Fat, Four-Eyed and Useless

David Hill (author)

Scholastic, NZ: 1997; 147pp

ISBN: 1869432800

Genres: humour, realistic fiction

Issues: cooperation, differences, friendship, gifted, tolerance

Ben Hambleton and his mate, Kim, are not part of the ‘in' crowd. They don't do well at sport and although Kim is a wizard at maths, it's not the kind of ability that wins friends at school. On the ‘I will if you will' policy, Kim and Ben join the newly started Writer's Club - and gradually a small group of isolates find they're not quite as different or as alone as they thought. Ben discovers there is something he's good at; and what's more he really enjoys it and learns a great deal about himself, and others, in the process.

Told in journal form in the voice of Ben, this is a ‘must read' for young writers. While other readers will enjoy the corny jokes, funny stories and rise of the underdog, young writers will relate to the wild swings between overconfidence and crushing uncertainty and self-doubt that beset the novice wordsmith. Hill manages to pack in plenty of really practical, useful writing tips and tools through the tasks the writer's group are given and their responses to one another's work. What might otherwise have been merely a ‘young writer's guide' becomes much more as it gradually emerges that one of the group has a severe writer's block as a result of a traumatic personal experience. Little by little the group's support - and the process of writing - helps the child move forward and find a powerful voice as a result.

A very interesting and well-crafted novel.