Regular Guy by Sarah Weekspublished 1999
120 pages
Synopsis from publisher:
Guy is convinced that the man and woman with whom he has lived all his life cannot possibly be what they claim to be--his parents. They're too weird! Would anyone else's mother tie-dye every pair of underwear in the house? Would anyone else's father perform the famous oyster trick by sucking an oyster up his nose with a horrible noise and spitting it out of his mouth--in a restaurant? No--except maybe the parents of the weirdest, craziest, most unappealing kid in Guy's whole class, Bob-o. But Bob-o's parents are as normal as parents come--just like Guy. This gives Guy food for thought, especially when he finds out that he and Bob-o have the same birthday, and were born in the same hospital! Guy and his best friend Buzz are determined to find out the truth about what really took place the day Guy and Bob-o were born.
My thoughts:
This book was my selection for challenge #2 of Jenners' Take A Chance Challenge -
Random Word. Go to this random word generator and generate a random word. Find a book with this word in the title. Read the book and write about it.
My random word was "regular", so I found the book Regular Guy. Boy, this book was a lot of fun!
Who doesn't remember being a kid and wishing you had a different family? My parents are great, and yet I can still remember packing up my little suitcase and getting ready to run away. (As a funny aside, my plan was to run to my grandma's house, because I was CONVINCED that she wouldn't tell them I was there. Clearly I didn't think that part through very well...) Regular Guy's hero, Guy, is sure of the same thing. His parents are SO EMBARRASSING, and he knows there must have been a mistake.
This book is a delight - it's clever, and funny, and tackles a subject that is almost universal. Guy is an endearing main character, and his best friend, Buzz, is a great sidekick. It was so much fun to read as Guy and Buzz discover "clue" after "clue" to their great mystery, and their plan to solve Guy's problem is hilarious.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and recommend it for kids in upper elementary school. It's about family, and friends, and coming to terms with your identity, and it's also a great read.
Finished: 11/16/09
Source: Forest Avenue Library
Rating: 8/10
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4 comments:
Oh my gosh, this sounds so good and so true. What's amazing to me is that while parents are a source of embarrassment, grandparents never are.
What a fun looking book! I think this would be a perfect read for a sick day, since it's light and not too taxing. It might make a great gift for my friend's little boy as well. I am glad you enjoyed it so much!
This sounds like such a fun book! Great job!
This sounds like a fun book and one that most kids could related to! I love your running away story ... I "ran away" once ... I sat in the car and then fell asleep. Wasn't very effective!
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