Just Call Me Spaghetti-Hoop Boy

Author: Lara Williamson Publisher: Usborne ISBN: 978-1-47492130-5

LIKE many young adult books, this one has a catchy cover that, to those who pride themselves as sensible, is just trying too hard to attract. But, within its pages is a story, a lesson and, perhaps, a much-needed friend.

The story is about Adam Butters, a boy who wants nothing more than making people happy, especially his adopted parents. In his quest, he figures that the best way to go about it is to become a superhero.

One day, Adam was given the time-honoured assignment of making a family tree at school. Knowing that he is adopted, Adam decides that since he already knows everything about his family, it is time to find his missing piece, his real mother, with the help of his best friend, of course.

His story of discovering where he came from is funny, heartwarming, and heart-wrenching. Adam is caught between what he has and what he thinks life might be like if he has found his birth mother.

What he has now is a comic-book obsessed dad, a mum who is hiding a secret, and a younger sister who drives everyone mad with her invisible dog called Sausage Roll.

More than anything else, this book is about values told through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy who loves spaghetti hoops, comics, his bobble hat and his family.

It explores the complex relationship between an adopted child, his parents as well as his siblings, and the sometimes overwhelming and uncontrollable desire to find his real parents.

A fine casual read on its own for both the young and adults, Just Call Me Spaghetti-Hoop Boy will resonate more in the hearts of those who are in the same shoes as Adam, or those who know someone like him and wish to understand more. – Azizul Rahman Ismail