A Different Boy by Paul Jennings

A Different Boy follows the previous new Paul Jennings title A Different Dog which I talked about exactly one year ago.  While the two stories are not a series their tone, plot, themes and audience are the same and hence the cover art by Geoff Kelly which reflects this.

I really enjoyed A Different Dog and now we have A Different Boy which is another breathtaking and powerful story. It has Paul Jennings' trademark short sentences and plot twists. In this story an early twist made me gasp in utter horror.  Our hero Anton has been taken to an orphanage. While we don't really know why this has happened it is clear this is a terrible place with very cruel teachers. Anton enters the classroom and the teacher nails a strap to the wall. All the boys know this will be used to punish them. The aptly named Mr Steel instructs the boys to decorate the covers of their new exercise books. "Make sure that is it neat. And clean. You know what I mean by clean."

Anton loves to draw and he creates a beautiful scene of the New Land. "The place of his dreams. ... A warm, sun-burnt country - a land of sweeping plains and rugged mountains which ran down to golden beaches surrounded by a jewel sea."  The boys draw for a time and then the teacher tells them to stop and write their name on the cover. Anton is told to collect up the books but before he can add his own name, his book is taken by Brosnik, the bully of the group, and Anton's name is added to a different cover, one with a horrid image that is sure to mean Anton will be punished. What can Anton do? He leaps out of his chair and flees. Where he goes, what happens and how he survives will astonish you.

Last week I was in a book store and I saw they had placed A Different Boy with their simple beginning chapter books probably because this is a slim, illustrated novel with only 102 pages. I am not sure if this is legal but I picked up all the copies and moved them to the Middle Primary section. A Different Boy is a gripping story with brilliant twists and turns. This is a terrific book to give a reader aged 11+ especially a reluctant reader and this takes Paul Jennings back to his beginnings where he wanted to write - the sort of stories which I thought would make reading fun for children.

Here is a set of teachers notes from the publisher. Here is a detailed review from The Bottom Shelf.
You can read more of the plot here.