Keith Gray

After reading this book in less than 24 hours, I have to agree with The Herald when they say that "if there were more writers like Keith Gray, more teenagers would read". Mr. Gray certainly knows the way a teenage mind works and he writes with such force that you can't help get sucked in the story.
This is the tale of Sim, Burke and Kenny; three 15 year old boys who have just lost his friend Ross in a terrible accident. All of them agree that no one really understood Ross, and feel the need show more to give him a proper funeral. A while back, Ross told them he wanted to go to a small town in Scotland called Ross -fitting indeed!-. So, the boys decide to steal his friends' ashes and set out on a journey to give Ross' death some sort of meaning. What they discover about themselves and their soon departed friend will affect their lives deeply. The journey gets more and more complicated as they travel along and you can't help rooting for them to reach that Scottish town before their parents or the police catch up to them.
I really loved this book: it is just like taking a peek inside your typical, moody teenager boy. You get to experience the fearlessness, the hilarious irreverent thoughts and that warm, comforting feeling that having good friends gives you. Funny, sad, lovely, eye opening and shocking all rolled into one book called Ostrich Boys. Brilliant! show less

Blake, Kenny and Sim have just lost their best mate, Ross, to a car accident. Having attended the funeral and coming out dissatisfied with the way Ross's life was celebrated, the three teenagers decide to make a pilgrimage to the town of Ross, in Scotland, a place Ross once tried to runaway to. Only one problem, they have to steal his ashes first.
With that mission accomplished - messily - they embark on a 2 day train journey to Ross and thus begins an adventure and a journey of show more self-discovery for them all. After Kenny leaves his backpack (containing most of their money for the trip and Kenny's ticket) on a train during a frantic interchange things take a wild turn.
Relying on each other, the boys talk about Ross and share recent memories of him that start to paint a picture they don't recognise as their friend who would "stand up to anyone". It is clear that Ross is still having a marked effect on their lives - even from his urn in Blake's backpack.
Keith Gray writes young men very well - he speaks their language and I found these boys believable, sad, hilarious and likeable. I look forward to reading more books by Keith Gray very soon.
Did they get Ross to Ross? That would be telling..... show less

"... and the first-born of Mourn Home, my son William, will follow me at that time he turns sixteen. This will be the precedent for all Mourners and their sons, for there must always be a Mourner for Moutonby's lost children...."

In 1699 a monster rose from the depths of Lake Mou, Yorkshire, and snatched five schoolboys from the shore... or so local lore says. A handful of Moutonby's residents still believe, but everyone else is now firmly living in the modern world - including Tim. Which is show more a bit unfortunate, as Tim is due to take over from his father as Mourner in a few days' time. It will be his job to keep Mourn Home running (it's now a failing guest house), and to protect the town from the Mourn of legend by appeasing it with weekly Feeds, carefully honed rituals and constant vigilance. But just as Tim has made the decision to escape his fate and his family's obsession, a boy disappears out on the lake. Now Tim must make up his mind once and for all, and make the hardest choice of his life: throw away his future by staying put, even if the Mourn doesn't exist - or risk everyone's safety by leaving if it does?

This is quite a complex little novel, filled with philosophical twists and turns as Tim struggles with his doubts about the Mourn's existence. Along the way Gray raises many questions about the nature of faith and belief. Is circumstantial evidence ever enough? Can we ever truly believe when we have never seen something with our own eyes? Does faithful duty win out over personal fulfillment? Has modern life taken away our capacity to believe - or helped us overcome the superstitions of our ancestors? The Fearful could be read as a story about religion, as a philosophical and ethical debate, or simply enjoyed as an exciting children's thriller about a monster in the water.

Personally, I read it as a little of all three. Gray definitely managed to keep me wondering, posing a genuine 'Is there or isn't there?' conundrum that had my brain cells ticking over even when I wasn't reading. He makes up for the slightly slower sections with some nail-bitingly dramatic scenes, and there are some beautiful little touches in his prose that made me wish I'd written them! He evokes the stifling fear of the Mourn brilliantly, with a constant feeling of claustrophobia hanging over Tim's lakeside existence. Monsters aside, the Milmullen family is warmly written, and Tim's coming-of-age story is very relatable - being fairly local to me, the teenage slang and even the school routine was almost exactly as I remember mine, which was refreshing! I think the only thing that really disappointed me was the ending, which proved a frustratingly inconclusive anti-climax and seemed more tailored to the religious themes than to creating a cracking finale to a YA novel. Tentatively recommended. show less

Two boys on the first day of the holidays are looking at the ruins of a demolished house. They notice something on the ground and discover a trapdoor to a baseroom room untouched by the demolition. Both of them want it for their secret hideout or "den". Marshall, to escape his deadbeat father and Rory as just a place to hang with mates. Rory wants to tell others and Marshall doesn't. Their friendship is tested to the point of physical blows...