Stuff [Paperback]

Jeremy Strong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2005

Stuff is the nickname of our hero, Simon (because he knows a lot of weird stuff). Stuff's parents have split up, and his dad has brought back a new step-mum (the Sherry Trifle), a step-sister (the awful Natasha) and a radical feminist rabbit called Pankhurst (she only attacks men - spooky). In Stuff's own words, here is how he tries (and fails) to run away from home. How he tries to get off with the beautiful Sky, and dump girlfriend Delfine (without being beaten up by her psycho brother). In fact, how to get through life as a teenage boy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeremy Strong is one of the most popular children's writers of today. He won the overall Children's Book Award with THE HUNDRED-MILE-AN-HOUR DOG. He lives in Somerset with his wife, Susan. This is his first book for teenagers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (June 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141319038
• ISBN-13: 978-0141319032
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,045,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The coolest book I've ever read., July 14, 2008

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Stuff: The Life of a Cool Demented Dude (Hardcover)

Strong does a great job making up fun words and insults for the characters to use. I can totally relate to the main character Stuff. Probably one of the best books I've ever read.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hardly a Cool Demented Dude, March 12, 2007

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stuff: The Life of a Cool Demented Dude (Hardcover)

Stuff is the nickname his family has chosen for young Simon, 14 years old and a Briton by birth. Stuff has ambitions of being a world class cartoonist, and he is aided and abetted by a sympathetic art teacher at school, Miss Kovak, who publishes a weekly art magazine "Art Works" to encourage her more gifted students.

Otherwise Stuff's life is miserable. His parents have divorced, and his dad has imported a sexy live in lover that Stuff called "Sherry Trifle" due to her resemblance to the popular UK dessert. In turn, La Trifle has brought in her own daughter, Natasha, a sexy girl around Stuf's age who torments him with her insults. He is of an age where he is prone to acne ("spots" in British parlance) and thinks about sex every six seconds, as does his best mate, Pete.

Stuff has a lovely girlfriend, Delfine, but he is feeling his oats, and when he meets the punked out "SkY' in art class, quite loses his heart to her and begins drawing a comic srtip in which she appears as a scantily clad superhero, a la Seth Cohen's comic book in the OC. However, Delfine's nasty, brutish brother Darcy is ready to beat Stuff to a pulp if he dares break up with longsuffering Delfine.

Stuff is loveable and adaptable, if never believable. A useful glossary appears in the back of the book which explains some of Stuff's strange UK slang, although other bits remain unexplained. This book is OK, but Stuff's catchphrases are rotten ("How my life goes"?) and it would take a miracle to make this one a success on these shores.