The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don't they teach you anything at school?

So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who's been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she's confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades.

One Saturday, he doesn't show up. Ona starts to think he's not so special after all, but then his father Quinn arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son's good deed. The boy's mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that even at her age the world can surprise you, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find yourself again.

Bit of a weepy one this - as the blub suggests its a story about the unlikely friendship of a records obsessed 11 year old boy who is tasked to do odd jobs for a 104 year old woman at her decaying property so he can earn his scouting badge.

The old lady Ona and the young boy develop a strong friendship and she looks forward to him coming round to help her more than she thought she would. One week he doesn't come and she is left wondering what has happened to him we then discover that he has died quite suddenly and his father Quinn goes round the Ona's to finish what his son has started.

Through Ona Quinn discovers the wonderful son he never really knew and he and his wife Belle learn to release the love they had for their son and understand why he was so happy coming to Ona every week. They learn a lot about themselves, grief and friendship.

It is a lovely journey sad and happy and a good read but be prepared to cry and make sure you have some tissues at the ready.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.