Ostrich Boys

Keith Gray

- 4.1 • 7 Ratings

- £3.99

- £3.99

'It's not really kidnapping, is it? He'd have to be alive for it to be proper kidnapping.'

Kenny, Sim and Blake are about to embark on a remarkable journey of friendship. Stealing the urn containing the ashes of their best friend Ross, they set out from Cleethorpes on the east coast to travel the 261 miles to the tiny hamlet of Ross in Dumfries and Galloway. After a depressing and dispiriting funeral they feel taking Ross to Ross will be a fitting memorial for a 15 year-old boy who changed all their lives through his friendship. Little do they realise just how much Ross can still affect life for them even though he's now dead.

Drawing on personal experience Keith Gray has written an extraordinary novel about friendship, loss and suicide, and about the good things that may be waiting just out of sight around the corner . . .

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 8 FEB 2010

British author Gray s U.S. debut is both an unusual twist on the road trip trope and a touching story of teenage friendship. After their friend Ross is struck by a car and killed while riding his bike, Blake, Kenny, and Sim decide to honor his memory. After a few acts of petty revenge on people who had made Ross s last few days tough, they decide to steal his ashes and take them to the Scottish namesake town of Ross. Along the way, they get thrown off a train, lose their money, meet and flirt with three attractive Scottish girls, and discover some often uncomfortable truths about each other and their relationship with Ross. Gray s story could have ended up a collection of coming-of-age clich s, but instead is likely to defy readers expectations as the boys make their way north. Although there are action sequences featuring escapes from the police, stolen mopeds, and even a bungee jump, it s the relationship among the boys expressed as much through believable teen banter as through obvious and emotional revelatory moments that drives the story. Ages 12 up.

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