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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Amazed Earthling

The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair by Lara Williamson – review

Becket Rumsey, his brother Billy and a snail called Brian have some serious investigating to do! The mystery began when their father took them away in the middle of the night, without Pearl (best step-mum) knowing anything about it. Without any explanation from their father, Beckett and Billy (and Brian) are left in the dark so they create “SNOOP” – Secret Network of Observations, Operations and Probing. In a series of hilarious yet vital “missions”, SNOOP set about finding Pearl. There are some twists and turns that you don’t see coming and although the subject matter is bereavement this is not at all a depressing read and has some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

armchair
Photograph: PR

In this story, it shows how hard it can be to say goodbye. While Becket struggles to find a way to say goodbye to his deceased mother, his classmates and friends learn morals from each other. The main characters of Becket and Billy are really believable in all of the typical boy characteristics that they display as 11 and 7 year olds. This is a humorous novel yet it tugs at the heartstrings and shows that goodbye doesn’t have to be a final farewell. You cannot say too much about the plot as this would spoil the story, but I will say this, I highly recommend that you read it.

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