Ostrich Boys

A plot revolving around friends and/or family going on a road trip to scatter a loved one's ashes is a well worn path (see, for example, Graham Swift's 1996 Booker Prize winning Last Orders, or William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying). However, here, that premise is reimagined for the teen set, as three 15-year-old British boys steal their best friend's ashes in order to take them to a special town in Scotland, where they intend to give him a proper send-off. The catalyst for their quest is their disgust at what they see as a fake show of caring by classmates and townspeople at their friend's stuffy funeral. The short book starts out as a bit of a caper and a farce, as they scheme to get their hands on the ashes and make their way north via a series of misadventures (rather predictably, they lose most of their money, and then later they meet up with some girls). However, there's more to the story than a simple road trip, as we gradually learn a little more about the boys and their friendship, and the possibility is raised that their friend may have committed suicide. Things start to get much more serious in the final chapters, as the boys get close to their goal, and the nature of their friendship comes under greater scrutiny. It's a bittersweet book, one that will challenge young readers to consider their own friendships, but does so without being didactic. It's also the kind of story that is incredibly well suited for adaptation into a film.

There hasn't been a tale of young men this good since Stand by Me hit the shelves. Keith Gray is an award-winning U.K. author who is making his U.S. debut with this fantastic young adult novel, and all I have to say as an avid reader is...Welcome to America! This book is about the remarkable journey of four friends. Kenny is the only child of wealthy parents. He's a bit slow, at times, but his main love comes from computers and knowing how to fix electronics. He dresses in designer duds, but has a tendency to lose things he absolutely has to have. Sim is a darker, cooler young man who comes from a two-parent home, but being that each parent works at different hours, it's a lot like being a boy on his own. Blake is involved in step-family sagas. Mom and Dad are divorced, remarried to other people, and have "new" children from their second marriages. They always throw on a smile for Blake and make sure that everything is "perfect." Their fourth friend is Ross Fell. Ross is...dead. When our story begins, we are with Blake, Sim, and Kenny, still clothed in their funeral attire, trying to come to terms with the fact that their best friend has been hit by a car while riding his bike. They discuss the funeral, and get extremely angry that all the people who had made their friend's life miserable had the audacity to show up at the ceremony and pretend to mourn. The three friends intend to get the hypocrites starting with Mr. Fowler, the hateful teacher; Munro, the school bully who tried to make Ross' life miserable; and, Nina, the girl who broke their best friend's heart. But Blake has an idea. The one thing Ross had always wanted to do was travel to Ross, Scotland. He'd always joked about wanting to be Ross in Ross. So, instead of destroying property, Blake wants to honor his best friend by doing something that Ross wanted more than anything. But...how to do it? The three friends go to Ross' family's house, kidnap the ashes of their deceased buddy and take off on a train. What comes next is a remarkable journey that involves things like bungee-jumping; the Tramp's Hotel; girls...let's face it, the ultimate road trip. The story is authentic, funny, charming, and real. It reminds us all that we choose our friends; they become our real family. A large number of children don't get the perfect family, like I did, so their friends are the group that keeps them going when times get tough. There are twists in this story that will surprise any reader, and an underlying current of hope and faith that will make the rest of America welcome Keith Gray with open arms.

This book accomplishes a lot. First, It's a coming-of-age/loss-of-innocence story, wherein three 15-year-old friends take the ashes of their recently dead fourth friend on a journey they all need. Second, it's a book that reminds you that no matter what happens on a road trip, road trips are always worth it. Third, it's sickly funny. So, yeah, these three mates (that's British for 'friends') take their mate's (friend's) ashes. Take them. Out of the dead guy's sisters hands. Because they're angry that the funeral was just what a bunch of people who didn't care particularly for their friend made it. And they book for Scotland. They figure what they're doing is illegal, but don't quite know what crime it is. Things don't go smoothly, of course - otherwise you wouldn't have a book, would you? - and they find themselves off course, without money, hungry, and more interested in the girls on the train than the coming storm and their shelterless evening awaiting. Some of what you know is going to happen toward the end happens, but it has to happen, because some of it was pretty much inevitable. That's not the point, though, is it? It's the journey, after all. Road trips are always worth it. By the way, I'm a modern, enlightened dad, and want to make sure everybody's kids (but my own) are exposed to the most vile stuff imaginable, but be aware that the language in this book is like real fifteen year old boys talk, when adults aren't around. There's plenty of sex slang and meaningless curse words throughout. It's YA, but definitely for the older members of that demographic.