A Review of About a Boy
Mr. Wilson
English 11
5 September 2012
Summer Reading Assignment: About a Boy
Insensible Will, who lives comfortably off of the money from a popular Christmas song his father wrote, comes up with the idea to join a Single Parents Alone Together, (SPAT), group in order to pick up single moms. What he chooses to overlook however, is the fact that he does not have any children. This sparks a chain of events beginning with him meeting Marcus, an awkward young teenage boy who is being raised by a depressed, single mother. Marcus is constantly tormented at school and feels as though he has no one to turn to. He becomes very fond of Will who is tolerant with him at first and begins to grow attached to his high strung personality. Marcus begins to gain confidence, learn how to deal with his mother, and win the affection of an older punk rocker girl named Ellie at his school. However spending time with Marcus begins to show Will just how empty his life really is. Marcus and Will cross paths at a SPAT get together when Marcus’s mom asks her friend Susie to bring him. That day is the when both Marcus and Wills’ life change forever. When arriving home from the SPAT party Susie, Marcus, and Will walk into Marcus’s mom Fiona passed out in her own vomit. In the mix of it all Marcus doesn’t even see that his mom had tried to overdose on pills. From that day forward Marcus constantly worried about his mother’s depression instead of worrying about himself, and how he gets picked on everyday at his school. It wasn’t until he met Will that Marcus realized why he was getting picked on. Fiona, Marcus’s mom, was in denial and believed that Marcus was just fine wearing ugly shoes, and listening to Mozart. Will helps him to find himself, and to shed his nerdy and dorky skin. As the months passed Marcus began to change and he started hanging out with this punk rocker girl Ellie. At first Marcus believed that he was in love with Ellie and that he could spend the rest of his
English 11
5 September 2012
Summer Reading Assignment: About a Boy
Insensible Will, who lives comfortably off of the money from a popular Christmas song his father wrote, comes up with the idea to join a Single Parents Alone Together, (SPAT), group in order to pick up single moms. What he chooses to overlook however, is the fact that he does not have any children. This sparks a chain of events beginning with him meeting Marcus, an awkward young teenage boy who is being raised by a depressed, single mother. Marcus is constantly tormented at school and feels as though he has no one to turn to. He becomes very fond of Will who is tolerant with him at first and begins to grow attached to his high strung personality. Marcus begins to gain confidence, learn how to deal with his mother, and win the affection of an older punk rocker girl named Ellie at his school. However spending time with Marcus begins to show Will just how empty his life really is. Marcus and Will cross paths at a SPAT get together when Marcus’s mom asks her friend Susie to bring him. That day is the when both Marcus and Wills’ life change forever. When arriving home from the SPAT party Susie, Marcus, and Will walk into Marcus’s mom Fiona passed out in her own vomit. In the mix of it all Marcus doesn’t even see that his mom had tried to overdose on pills. From that day forward Marcus constantly worried about his mother’s depression instead of worrying about himself, and how he gets picked on everyday at his school. It wasn’t until he met Will that Marcus realized why he was getting picked on. Fiona, Marcus’s mom, was in denial and believed that Marcus was just fine wearing ugly shoes, and listening to Mozart. Will helps him to find himself, and to shed his nerdy and dorky skin. As the months passed Marcus began to change and he started hanging out with this punk rocker girl Ellie. At first Marcus believed that he was in love with Ellie and that he could spend the rest of his