Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce
An England-wide epidemic of the killer kittens flu isn’t the only thing frail Rory Rooney is worried about. Every day his over-sized nemesis Grim (Tommy-Lee) Komissky either eats or stomps on his lunch and then frequently throws Rory off the bus. Grim disappears to the hospital after a minor accident and never comes back. The school and Tommy-Lee’s henchmen blame Rory and push him into a stream during a field trip. When Rory comes out of the water the color of broccoli, everyone panics. A medical helicopter delivers him to a special hospital where he ends up locked in a room with the now broccoli-colored Tommy-Lee. The life journey begins when Tommy-Lee sleep walks through security doors, out of the hospital, and into London where The two boys and a new broccoli girl, Koko Kwok decide their green-ness has given them super powers to be used to save London from the new threat of green aliens sighted in the city. Frank Cottrell Boyce’s novel The Astounding Broccoli Boy, is funny, clever and brave with several great life lessons about friendship, loyalty and love among unlikely acquaintances. I highly recommend this book’s journey through disaster into a lifelong bond among three very different children.
Review by Renee Larsen, Hillside Elementary Media Center
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 3-6
The Astounding Broccoli Boy
Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
370 pages
Release Date: September 8, 2015
I think the cover and the title are hilarious!