The Cool Boffin

Richard Hodgson is fifteen and feverishly uncool. He is intelligent and fat, a boffin, and an outcast until through a twist of plot he changes and attempts to become cool. His first attempts all show him up with those in the know (intended to include the reader). But he does make it and is given access to the social and emotional world previously closed to him. There is a greater degree of subtlety here than Pete Johnson has been known for and the humour of the stereotypes is developed to include some reflection on the shallowness of the cool world. The author knows this kind of school life very well and is very good at creating the series of dramatic scenes. Popular with 3rd years up and rarely in the book box for long.