Boonie

Written by Richard Masson

   

The Lovereading4Kids comment

One of our Books of the Year 2013 A touching story of one small boy’s powerful spirit of survival in a evocatively described, desperate dystopian world. Orphaned JD has watched the degradation of his mother and the death of his father at the hands of the wicked Silver Men. Now he must survive alone in a world where water is the most precious commodity. With nothing to guide him but his own best instincts and scraps of wisdom he gathers along the way, JD learns about friendship, truth, trust and, above all, his own bravery. Despite the bleakness of his world, JD finds enough examples of human kindness to make this both a thoughtful and a heart warming story.

A Piece of Passion from the Editor Sara O’Connor

“Richard's incredible opening gripped me from the moment I read it as part of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) British Isles Undiscovered Voices 2012 competition. And the more I learned about his characters, JD and Aqua, the more I fell in love. The story is hard hitting but absolutely compelling. The children are suffering in a ruined world due to the wars and neglect of past societies and, for me, that is so relevant and thought-provoking these days. But the icing on the cake was Richard's personal story: he had been writing for 40 years with so many near-misses to publication, but still hadn't been discovered. His years in the Merchant Navy have given him so many incredible stories, and his imagination knows no bounds.”

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In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for Boonie a small number of Lovereading members were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Scroll down to read them.

Here’s a taster from one of the reviews. “Richard Masson has successfully given us a world and characters that the reader is able to love and hate, fear and laugh at" Scroll down to read the rest of this review and all the reader reviews.