Book Stop Corner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”




Monica Wood, an award-winning best-selling author, pens a heart-rending tale of friendship in her new book, The One-in-a-Million Boy that narrates the story of a boy, and a 104-year old immigrant lady and the boy's father, who form a strong bond of friendship over loss and grief and their passion for Guinness World Records.






Synopsis:

Miss Ona Vitkus has - aside from three months in the summer of 1914 - lived unobtrusively, her secrets fiercely protected.

The boy, with his passion for world records, changes all that. He is eleven. She is one hundred and four years, one hundred and thirty three days old (they are counting). And he makes her feel like she might be really special after all. Better late than never...

Only it's been two weeks now since he last visited, and she's starting to think he's not so different from all the rest.

Then the boy's father comes, for some reason determined to finish his son's good deed. And Ona must show this new stranger that not only are there odd jobs to be done, but a life's ambition to complete.


This heart-warming tale is about an eleven-year old boy, a boy scout and and used to help out a 104-year old lady, Ona Vitkus with some odd jobs over the weekend, who is now dead and has left a strings of people who care for him deeply and is trying to adjust with the void that he created with his death, or rather say fighting hard everyday to cope up with the loss. But mostly this is that old lady's tale who is 104-years old and has a lot of bird feeders. After the boy's death, his father, Quinn, takes up his job with Ona, who figures that just like other 11-year old boy scouts, "the boy" too have quit. His father, Quinn, is a guitar player, and used to travel a lot from one place to another for gigs and had given very less time to family life with Belle, his wife and "the boy". And through Ona, Quinn, realizes that the boy has left his great presence with her rather than in his home.

Well, I never ever read anything so beautiful and delightful in my entire lifetime. A death of someone could result in sadness and that sadness beheld by the author is extremely fascinating. The author gave positivism to death. "The boy"- he is at the center, surrounded by his parents, Quinn and Belle and that old lady, Ona. How he left them with a void after his death and how these three human beings try to comprehend with his absence in their lives, moreover, what changes it brings to their old demeanor, all these are the main highlights of this story. You might be wondering why I'm saying "the boy" instead of using his? Because that's the idea of the author to not to use name of "the boy" in order to contemplate with loss of the other characters he left behind.

The writing is evocative and eloquent and the author has poured her soul and deep heart-felt emotions into the story while writing it. The narrative is extremely poignant and engaging and will keep the readers glued till the end of the story. The pacing of the nook is medium as the book evolves in a slow manner with Ona and Quinn's friendship and also with the fact that "the boy" is dead. "The boy's" passion for Guinness World Record Holders is extremely rare and enlightening thereby just like "the boy's" passion, the author too will try to make her readers develop that passion, by featuring the real names of some of the Guinness World Record Holders in various categories, in between this story.


The characters of the book are the gems of this book and just like the captivating story line, the characters too are absorbing and are we ll-developed with their flaws and weaknesses. The author depicted them in their vulnerable moments and that can be only when a human being is hit by a death of his closed one. The author have explored the friendship among Ona and "the boy" and Ona and Quinn. One and "the boy's" friendship is enchanting an d very precious, how the old lady begins trusting "the boy" based on his eccentric attitude towards Guinness World Record Holders. Ona is depicted as someone who is brave and intense and still knows how to survive in a modern world. Her life story is featured in the form of recordings done by "the boy" for the Guinness World Record title. The friendship between Quinn and Ona is really deep with lots of compassion that will eventually make the readers feel their raw pain and grief for "the boy". Quinn is a flawed character, not a good father but he evolves through out the story finally becoming an understanding and caring friend to Ona. The supporting characters are too well-developed and they too hold a power to leave an imprint long after the end of this story.

This is a voyage through loss, especially for Quinn, and on the way, he finds a great friend like Ona, a Lithuanian immigrant. Together they share the memories and together they share hope and loss, eventually dealing with life, as a whole, thereby beholding a power to bring tears to the eyes of the readers and at times bringing a smile to the face of the readers.

Verdict: Yes this a must read for all. Drown yourself into the depths of this story and let your emotions get controlled by the course of this story.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Monica Wood's publicist for giving me an opportunity to read and review an early copy of this book.
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Author Info:
Monica Wood is the author of four works of fiction, most recently Any Bitter Thing, which spent 21 weeks on the American Booksellers Association extended bestseller list and was named a Book Sense Top Ten pick. Her other fiction includes Ernie’s Ark and My Only Story, a finalist for the Kate Chopin Award.
Visit her here


Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US
• Amazon India