Pool Boy [Paperback]

Michael Simmons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2005

Brett Gerson is fifteen and loaded. Until his dad is busted for owing the government ten million dollars. The injustice is that Brett has to pay for the fact that his dad has blown it . with his five-grand stereo and his huge allowance. Now he, his mom and his sister have been kicked out of their plush Californian mansion and are living with Brett's crazy aunt in some loser neighbourhood where the only pools are the inflatable kind. For the first summer ever, Brett's going to have to get a job. POOL BOY marks the debut of a gifted young writer, Michael Simmons, and one of the most engaging and infuriating anti-heroes since Holden Caulfield.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-Brett, 15, had it all: good looks, a winning personality, and a lot of money. That is, until the police busted his dad for money laundering and insider trading. Now the teen's posh lifestyle-like his dad-has gone to the dogs, and Brett, his mom, and sister move into their great-aunt's humble two-story on the other side of the tracks. Forced to help out in making ends meet, the teen takes a job cleaning pools in his old upscale neighborhood. With surprisingly sharp insight for a first novel, Simmons doesn't bat an eyelash in forcing his arrogantly smug antihero to combat a truckload of issues involving his new life in a lower-income bracket. Dubbed "pool boy" by the new owners of the house that his own family lost, Brett stubbornly comes to terms with forgiving his father for being a criminal and losing the family fortune. What results from Simmons's dead-on characterization in this well-told first-person account is a humorous yet thought-provoking journey through the life and mind of a self-centered young man who must now reconsider his own sense of responsibility to rebuild the life torn apart by his father's crimes.
Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. It's the elemental YA novel: the furious teen betrayed by adults has to make his own way. But this story is taken from today's business headlines. Brett's stockbroker dad is in jail for insider training, and the family is suddenly broke and disgraced. Unlike most stories about parents in prison, this first novel focuses on a spoiled brat, sorry that he won't be getting a car for his upcoming sixteenth birthday; bitter because, instead of sunning himself by the family pool, he has to spend the summer cleaning the pools of his former neighbors. He knows he is a brat and he glories in it. He is ugly to his dad when he is forced to visit him in prison, and he hurts his too-perfect mom. Of course, he learns his lesson, suffers real loss, and comes to know about backbreaking work and about forgiveness. What's best here is the teen's authentic, contemporary first-person voice, obnoxious in its self-absorption, funny in its self-mockery, and also vulnerable when real sadness blows the boy's cover. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Point (July 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439963664
• ISBN-13: 978-0439963664
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,149,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one was a pleasant surprise!, October 20, 2003

By 

Lisa Johannes (Carrollton, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pool Boy (Single Titles) (Hardcover)

After living the good life for almost his entire life, Brett is getting a taste of how the other half lives. His stockbroker father has just been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for three and a half years for insider trading, and Brett and his mom and sister have to move on the other side of the tracks (literally) and live with their crazy aunt.

Brett is finding it difficult to adjust to having no money while all his friends continue to attend tennis lessons and get new cars for their birthdays. But, worst of all, Brett seriously hates his father for what he has put them through, and has decided that he will not forgive.

Because it's summer and because he needs the money, Brett starts working with seventy-two year old pool cleaner Alfie, a somewhat eccentric but wise old man who seems to be the only one that Brett can talk to. Arrogant, pompous, and insensitive, Brett turns his family's ordeal into an even worst experience by constantly antagonizing his father during their bi-monthly prison visits. When tragedy strikes, Brett has the opportunity to see the real value of his relationships with his family and friends.

Brett is hardly a likeable kid, but somehow the author pulls off the magic trick of making Brett seem reasonable in his anger toward his father. The dialogue is an excellent example of narrative style, since the reader can picture Brett and only Brett speaking those lines. The teen love depiction is dead-on, especially as it comes from the voice of a spoiled teenage boy who has not learned to appreciate anything he has been given in life. This book is sure to spark some serious discussions about the "have's" and "have not's" of the world, and it can be expected that readers will want to know early on what is going to happen to give Brett the epiphany that he so obviously needs. For some reason, we want happiness for him; perhaps that is the sign of excellent writing, causing the readers to want good things for a less-than-gracious protagonist.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --The awakening of Brett Gerson--, June 14, 2003

By 

Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pool Boy (Single Titles) (Hardcover)

In this refreshing and original novel, Michael Simmons takes us into the world of a boy on the verge of his sixteenth birthday, and who had been living a very privileged existence. Brett Gerson had it all, good looks, personality, spending money, expensive stereo equipment and a luxurious home with a pool. The beautiful life ended when Brett's father was convicted of insider trading and was sent to jail.

Brett, his mother and sister all had to make a drastic change to their life styles. The house had to be sold, and the family moved in with their mother's eccentric aunt, who lived in a very modest home, but on the wrong side of town. To make matters even worse, Aunt Mary wore only floral muumuus and bedroom slippers. Her dress style, affectionate nature and "homespun wisdom" seemed strange to Brett and he was somewhat embarrassed by her.

He especially hated the visits that his mother insisted that they make to see his father in prison. Mr. Gerson who seemed penitent and somewhat broken in spirit was hopeful that his son would forgive him; however, Brett was so filled with bitterness that the only comments that he made to his dad were sarcastic and hateful.

He blamed his father for everything including the fact that he now had to work after school and on summer vacation which was something that was unheard of in the world where he used to live. After quitting his first job making burgers, he's takes a job working for Alfie Moore the elderly man who used to clean the pool at his former house. Britt thinks the job might be a lark and approaches the work in his old self-centered way, but both Alfie and the pool cleaning business are more than he ever imagined. Brett eventually learns the value and pride that comes with hard work and how it feels to be a nameless "Pool Boy."

This engaging story is told in today's jargon and in the first person. Brett, the protagonist is a spoiled rich kid and not always a very sympathetic subject. The author does a great job of getting us into Brett's mind and the reader is allowed to watch him grow as a person and become a likeable guy. I also admired the characterization of Alfie Moore who added warmth to the story through his solid and caring personality.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Hilarious...But Touching, Too, December 24, 2004

By 

A. Lynn (New England, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pool Boy (Single Titles) (Hardcover)

I loved loved loved Pool Boy's snarky main character, Brett -- he's sharp and he's snide and despite his spoiled-brattiness I found him impossible to hate. That's probably because he's got a soft side (though he'd never admit it!), like when he calls his sister "the most kind and decent person there is." And also because we've all had selfish thoughts, it's just that HE's bold enough to share them. Shameless? Maybe. Hilarious to read? YES. Brett's journey from super-rich kid to burger flipper to pool cleaner to sensitive hero is very funny, and also truly touched me in the end (THAT was a surprise). All of Simmon's characters -- from the wise, 70-year-old pool cleaner to Brett's richie-rich friends -- completely come to life in Pool Boy's pages. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't love this book.