Home
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

The New Boy

  • View
  • Rearrange

Digital version – browse, print or download

Books for Keeps is packed with articles, interviews comment and, of course, reviews.

You can read the whole issue online here, for free!

How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 68 - May 1991

Cover Story
The illustration on the front of BfK this month is from Let's Go Home, Little Bear by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Barbara Firth (see Authorgraph for details). The book is published by Walker Books and we thank them for their help in using this illustration.

  • PDFPDF
  • Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version
  • Send to friendSend to friend

The New Boy

Ruth Thomas
(Red Fox)
978-0099734109, RRP £3.99, Paperback
8-10 Junior/Middle
Buy "The New Boy (Red Fox Older Fiction)" on Amazon

This is the texture of The Runaways with more humour and a quite complex pattern of loyalties. Donovan, the new boy in the top Junior class, shows a stubborn inability to be much more than a little devil. He steals whatever seems to come his way, crashes a car, disrupts the class and makes life hell for the teacher. Yet we have pupils mothering the teacher, a headteacher whose good nature seems never to see criminal intent, despite obviously knowing Donovan's background, and Amy who can't help being fond of Donovan despite the fact that he abuses her friendship. There's a tough desperation underlying the good humour and the optimistic resolution has been hard earned. This is a long, but very rewarding read. Worth sharing in sections with whole groups or classes.

Reviewer: 
Adrian Jackson
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account