Review: Spud by John van de Ruit

Keith Gray reviews Spud

the perfect book for 13-year-old boys. They will appreciate the authenticity of Spud's perspective, while the diary-entry chapters are short enough to be read during the animated intervals of Grand Theft Auto IV. For all its many merits, Adrian Mole is hindsight fiction. A reader can't help but feel they're looking back on a teenage boy's woes and laughing at Adrian. The very special thing John van de Ruit has done is look forward from a teenager's perspective and laugh right along with him. KEITH GRAY