Customer Reviews

Ostrich Boys

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This book accomplishes a lot. First, It's a coming-of-age/loss-of-innocence story, wherein three 15-year-old friends take the ashes of their recently dead fourth friend on a journey they all need. Second, it's a book that reminds you that no matter what happens on a road trip, road trips are always worth it. Third, it's sickly funny.

So, yeah, these three mates (that's British for 'friends') take their mate's (friend's) ashes. Take them. Out of the dead guy's sisters hands. Because they're angry that the funeral was just what a bunch of people who didn't care particularly for their friend made it. And they book for Scotland. They figure what they're doing is illegal, but don't quite know what crime it is. Things don't go smoothly, of course - otherwise you wouldn't have a book, would you? - and they find themselves off course, without money, hungry, and more interested in the girls on the train than the coming storm and their shelterless evening awaiting.

Some of what you know is going to happen toward the end happens, but it has to happen, because some of it was pretty much inevitable. That's not the point, though, is it? It's the journey, after all.

Road trips are always worth it.

By the way, I'm a modern, enlightened dad, and want to make sure everybody's kids (but my own) are exposed to the most vile stuff imaginable, but be aware that the language in this book is like real fifteen year old boys talk, when adults aren't around. There's plenty of sex slang and meaningless curse words throughout. It's YA, but definitely for the older members of that demographic.

Before reading this book, I was more a graphic novel reader than a YA novel reader. I picked this book up on the recommendation of a few great reviews and I was very pleased. As other reviews and the book synopsis reveals, this is a story of three best friends as they deal with the death of their best friend, Ross. After going through some of the traditional anger stages, the three boys "kidnap" Ross's ashes and set off on a road trip to give Ross what the three boys believe to be a "proper funeral."

From vandalism, to stowing away on a train, to theft and bungee jumping, this story has it all. Around each chapter, the boys do something you never would imagine. And in the end they discover things you would never believe. This is a great story that reminds me of Stand By Me and something better. What's better than Stand By Me, you ask? Ostrich Boys. I cannot speak highly enough for this amazing story.

Review of the paperback edition ISBN 9780099456575, 2008

Kenny, Sim, Blake and Ross are best friends, fifteen year old boys they live in the small town of Cleethorpes on the North East coast of England, or at least three of them do now, for Ross has just been killed in an accident. Disgusted with the lack of any genuine input at Ross' funeral and the hypocrisy shown by those who by all rights should not even have been there, they think on what they can do to put matters right. After wreaking havoc locally taking revenge on those who they consider deserve it, they ponder what Ross would really have wanted. Recalling that Ross always wanted to go to Ross, Dumfries and Galloway (simply for reasons of the name), they decide that that's what they will do, take him there - but first they must secure his ashes from his family.

Blake, the somewhat overweight member of the group, narrates events as they steal away Ross' ashes and make their escape from Cleethorpes. We follow them on their incident filled quest, where the clumsiness of one causes a detour of route, and subsequent difficulties in reaching their ultimate destination. Along they way think about Ross, they ponder their friendships, and worry about the consequences they must face on returning home; the increasingly difficult journey testing the friendship of the three boys to the limits.

Ostrich Boys is an appealing and touching story, Keith Gray has created four very different, likeable boys bound by their loyalties to each other. Blake's narrative is honest, full of insight and peppered with touches of humour, making for an entertaining yet moving read.

OSTRICH BOYS is about friendship and loyalty. Blake, Sim, and Kenny just lost their best friend, Ross. Hit by a car while riding his bike, he is gone and they can hardly believe it.

After the boys attend his funeral, they decide the ceremony didn't do their friend justice. Ross was so much more than a collection of words and hymns. As a sort of revenge for the fact that he was taken in such unfair circumstances and at an early age, they concoct a plan to honor him in their own way.

Ross always dreamed of visiting a town of the same name, Ross, Scotland. The three remaining friends "kidnap" Ross's ashes and head to Scotland. The removal of the funeral urn from Ross's home didn't go as smoothly as planned, so their scheme to take a train to Scotland and back in just two days turns into a sort of escape that has Ross's family and the families of the three boys frantic.

Just before leaving Ross's house, his father confronted Blake about the possibility that Ross may have taken his own life by riding his bike into the path of the car. Blake is shocked by the question, as are Kenny and Sim, but shortly into their journey there is word that they have been on the evening news. Speculation is that the three boys are part of a suicide pact, and now the hunt is on.

OSTRICH BOYS is filled with action and adventure. Each boy is unique - Blake is known as the intelligent one, Kenny is the computer whiz and happens to be the bankroll for their trip until he unfortunately forgets his bag while switching trains, and Sim possesses an amazing knowledge of collective nouns that is sure to fascinate and provide remarkably useless information for readers.

Author Keith Gray combines bungee jumping, wild train rides, quirky characters, and the emotional upheaval of losing a close friend to create an incredible tale. A bit of a slow start might discourage some readers, but if they are encouraged to stick with it, most will find it a rewarding read.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

A plot revolving around friends and/or family going on a road trip to scatter a loved one's ashes is a well worn path (see, for example, Graham Swift's 1996 Booker Prize winning Last Orders, or William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying). However, here, that premise is reimagined for the teen set, as three 15-year-old British boys steal their best friend's ashes in order to take them to a special town in Scotland, where they intend to give him a proper send-off. The catalyst for their quest is their disgust at what they see as a fake show of caring by classmates and townspeople at their friend's stuffy funeral. The short book starts out as a bit of a caper and a farce, as they scheme to get their hands on the ashes and make their way north via a series of misadventures (rather predictably, they lose most of their money, and then later they meet up with some girls). However, there's more to the story than a simple road trip, as we gradually learn a little more about the boys and their friendship, and the possibility is raised that their friend may have committed suicide. Things start to get much more serious in the final chapters, as the boys get close to their goal, and the nature of their friendship comes under greater scrutiny. It's a bittersweet book, one that will challenge young readers to consider their own friendships, but does so without being didactic. It's also the kind of story that is incredibly well suited for adaptation into a film.

There hasn't been a tale of young men this good since Stand by Me hit the shelves. Keith Gray is an award-winning U.K. author who is making his U.S. debut with this fantastic young adult novel, and all I have to say as an avid reader is...Welcome to America!

This book is about the remarkable journey of four friends. Kenny is the only child of wealthy parents. He's a bit slow, at times, but his main love comes from computers and knowing how to fix electronics. He dresses in designer duds, but has a tendency to lose things he absolutely has to have. Sim is a darker, cooler young man who comes from a two-parent home, but being that each parent works at different hours, it's a lot like being a boy on his own. Blake is involved in step-family sagas. Mom and Dad are divorced, remarried to other people, and have "new" children from their second marriages. They always throw on a smile for Blake and make sure that everything is "perfect."

Their fourth friend is Ross Fell. Ross is...dead. When our story begins, we are with Blake, Sim, and Kenny, still clothed in their funeral attire, trying to come to terms with the fact that their best friend has been hit by a car while riding his bike. They discuss the funeral, and get extremely angry that all the people who had made their friend's life miserable had the audacity to show up at the ceremony and pretend to mourn. The three friends intend to get the hypocrites starting with Mr. Fowler, the hateful teacher; Munro, the school bully who tried to make Ross' life miserable; and, Nina, the girl who broke their best friend's heart.

But Blake has an idea. The one thing Ross had always wanted to do was travel to Ross, Scotland. He'd always joked about wanting to be Ross in Ross. So, instead of destroying property, Blake wants to honor his best friend by doing something that Ross wanted more than anything. But...how to do it? The three friends go to Ross' family's house, kidnap the ashes of their deceased buddy and take off on a train. What comes next is a remarkable journey that involves things like bungee-jumping; the Tramp's Hotel; girls...let's face it, the ultimate road trip.

The story is authentic, funny, charming, and real. It reminds us all that we choose our friends; they become our real family. A large number of children don't get the perfect family, like I did, so their friends are the group that keeps them going when times get tough. There are twists in this story that will surprise any reader, and an underlying current of hope and faith that will make the rest of America welcome Keith Gray with open arms.