Josh - Ivan Southall

Recommended for all ages.

Josh (the book) tells the quirky tale of a 14-year old boy sent to holiday with his infamous Aunt Clara in the equally infamous village of Ryan Creek. Although seemingly innocent, Josh (the character) suddenly finds himself battling against his aunt, the town kids, the conventions and expectations everyone seems to have of him. One kid has never been so unfairly attacked in the history of literature, I am sure. Except maybe Oliver Twist. He had it pretty rough. But I digress.

Josh (the book) is written in a stream of consciousness style that you will either accept and go with or hate. If you haven't tried stream of consciousness writing before, this is a great starting place. Basically, stream of consciousness writing is supposed to resemble the random flow of thoughts that we have as we go about our daily lives. The author makes no attempt to unjumble them or provide background information. Instead the story is made up of the central character's feelings and responses to events.

Personally I have to be in the right mood to deal with stream of consciousness novels, as they require you to sort of let go of your expectations about how a story should 'read'. I'd be interested in hearing how other readers find this style of writing.

Recommended for all ages because it is a nice 'safe' plot.