Spurt
Author: Chris Miles
Book Description:
Balls and all!
Jack Sprigley isn’t just a late-bloomer. He’s a no bloomer: an eighth grader, and puberty is still a total no-show. Worse yet, he hasn’t heard from his friends all winter vacation. He assumes they’ve finally dumped him and his child-like body—until he finds out it’s much worse than that. His friends are now so far ahead of him that they’ve started dating. Jack is out of luck. But then he comes up with a plan to catch up and win his friends back. And his plan is perfect: he just has to fake puberty.
Jack Sprigley isn’t just a late-bloomer. He’s a no bloomer: an eighth grader, and puberty is still a total no-show. Worse yet, he hasn’t heard from his friends all winter vacation. He assumes they’ve finally dumped him and his child-like body—until he finds out it’s much worse than that. His friends are now so far ahead of him that they’ve started dating. Jack is out of luck. But then he comes up with a plan to catch up and win his friends back. And his plan is perfect: he just has to fake puberty.
Buy Links:
Praise for SPURT
“Hilarious, addictive, brilliantly-warped... like Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen crossed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid” -- Stuart Gibbs, New York Times bestselling author of the Spy School series
“Funny, heartfelt, and likely to appeal to reluctant readers, especially boys on the cusp of puberty” --School Library Journal
“A refreshing take on body image, acceptance and the need to fit in. The novel’s moments of profundity are subtle yet powerful, and masterfully balanced with humour. Spurt is appealingly naughty.” --Books+Publishing
EXCERPT
(From pages 6 – 8)
A week before the end of first semester, he’d caught Reese and Darylyn whispering to each other when they were all hanging out together at the Bernadino Mall after school. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Now he realized: That must have been the moment they’d started to question if they could really afford to be seen in public with someone who looked more “kid brother” than “homie.” At some point the seeds of doubt must have been planted in Vivi’s mind too.
Now everything seemed to have come to a head, like the pus in one of the pimples that everyone but him seemed to have on their faces now. Vivi, Reese, and Darylyn had obviously gotten together as soon as first semester had ended and decided to ditch Jack. Because that was what happened when you didn’t measure up.
You got left behind.
Jack jammed his laptop into his backpack and stuffed his shorts, Nike Zooms, and water bottle in too.
He’d really hoped his growth spurt might hit by the time school went back. Everything Jack had read on forums and message boards over the break said his time would come. Eventually his hormones would kick into action and he’d transform from pubeless weirdo freak-boy to socially acceptable, testosterone-packing man-beast.
But Jack didn’t have time for eventually. He’d already passed up his chance to become Mr. Popular after being on TV—and now it looked like he’d been ditched by the few friends he did have. Complete social rejection was a mere pube’s-breadth away.
He had to buy himself some time.
That was when Jack thought of Bigwigs. Sure, it had been three whole years since he’d been in front of the cameras. Sure, it was just a dumb game show. But it got him thinking. Bigwigs had been about pretending you were something you weren’t. Teams of kids were sent out into workplaces week after week, doing jobs that adults would normally do. And the better the contestants played at being adults, the further they went on the show.
Pretending. Was the answer as simple as that?
Jack slung his backpack over one shoulder and headed out the back door and down the side walkway to the street, spurred by his stroke of genius.
If he wanted to stay tight with Vivi and the others, all he had to do was commit a relatively simple act of deception. All he had to do was convince his friends he had hit his growth spurt.
All he had to do, basically, was fake puberty.
“Hilarious, addictive, brilliantly-warped... like Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen crossed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid” -- Stuart Gibbs, New York Times bestselling author of the Spy School series
“Funny, heartfelt, and likely to appeal to reluctant readers, especially boys on the cusp of puberty” --School Library Journal
“A refreshing take on body image, acceptance and the need to fit in. The novel’s moments of profundity are subtle yet powerful, and masterfully balanced with humour. Spurt is appealingly naughty.” --Books+Publishing
EXCERPT
(From pages 6 – 8)
A week before the end of first semester, he’d caught Reese and Darylyn whispering to each other when they were all hanging out together at the Bernadino Mall after school. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Now he realized: That must have been the moment they’d started to question if they could really afford to be seen in public with someone who looked more “kid brother” than “homie.” At some point the seeds of doubt must have been planted in Vivi’s mind too.
Now everything seemed to have come to a head, like the pus in one of the pimples that everyone but him seemed to have on their faces now. Vivi, Reese, and Darylyn had obviously gotten together as soon as first semester had ended and decided to ditch Jack. Because that was what happened when you didn’t measure up.
You got left behind.
Jack jammed his laptop into his backpack and stuffed his shorts, Nike Zooms, and water bottle in too.
He’d really hoped his growth spurt might hit by the time school went back. Everything Jack had read on forums and message boards over the break said his time would come. Eventually his hormones would kick into action and he’d transform from pubeless weirdo freak-boy to socially acceptable, testosterone-packing man-beast.
But Jack didn’t have time for eventually. He’d already passed up his chance to become Mr. Popular after being on TV—and now it looked like he’d been ditched by the few friends he did have. Complete social rejection was a mere pube’s-breadth away.
He had to buy himself some time.
That was when Jack thought of Bigwigs. Sure, it had been three whole years since he’d been in front of the cameras. Sure, it was just a dumb game show. But it got him thinking. Bigwigs had been about pretending you were something you weren’t. Teams of kids were sent out into workplaces week after week, doing jobs that adults would normally do. And the better the contestants played at being adults, the further they went on the show.
Pretending. Was the answer as simple as that?
Jack slung his backpack over one shoulder and headed out the back door and down the side walkway to the street, spurred by his stroke of genius.
If he wanted to stay tight with Vivi and the others, all he had to do was commit a relatively simple act of deception. All he had to do was convince his friends he had hit his growth spurt.
All he had to do, basically, was fake puberty.
About the Author
Chris Miles has written several books for young readers in Australia. His short fiction and other writings have appeared in publications throughout Australia. He works as a website designer and developer, and in his spare time he indulges his love of Doctor Who, LEGO®, Dungeons & Dragons, and anchovies. He is a dog person (though not literally).
Author Links:
***GIVEAWAY***
Blog Tour Organised by:
No comments:
Post a Comment