But I'm glad that Razorbill sent it to me, because it is laugh-out-loud funny. Spud by John van de Ruit is my new favorite book.Spud, by John van de Ruit, is one of those books that I would probably never have picked up on my own. Some say it is the South African equivalent to Catcher in the Rye. But de Ruit doesn’t just omit the tense political and opinion differences of the period, plus the culture and difficulties with South Africa are hit as well. The daring acts and sly jokes from the “Crazy Eight” bring tons of laughter. You feel the love and companionship from the schoolboys and Spud’s parents. John van de Ruit writes a story that touches on all the emotions. Spud makes a point to constantly write letters and keep in touch with distant family and friends. But the person he misses most of all is Mermaid, his beautiful water-loving girlfriend. His mom is the normal one of the family, but she has her work cut-out managing a forgetful grandmother and Spud’s governmentally-paranoid father. Spud also has to deal with leaving his beloved, but crazy, relatives and the girl he loves. They eventually earn the group name “Crazy Eight” for all their feats. But within the school trouble means being cool and earning bragging rights amongst the other students. His dorm-mates are the wackiest people he’s ever met, and they throughout the novel get in lots of trouble. Spud is at the school on academic scholarship and begins his first days scared and worried. “Spud” is John’s nickname given to him by other boys in the school. The novel connects all those aspects with a humorous spin, and perhaps an exaggerated narrative voice. Milton’s life is full of typical boyhood problems: girls, sports, academics, and hazing. “Spud” follows a boy, John Milton, through his experience in an all boys private boarding school (in Africa of course). The book spans the time when the apartheid crumbles and Nelson Mandela is released from prison, but surprisingly it isn’t some book about foreign politics. This is a hilarious novel set in South Africa in 1990.
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