Reality Boy

King, A. S. (2013). Reality boy. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Gerald lives in a dysfunctional home in which he had to endure physical and psychological abuse that followed him even as a young adult. When he was five years old, he participated in a reality show, Network Nanny. This allowed millions of people to witness his “abnormal bowel movement skills” and “crapping all over the place” behavior. Therefore, people around him began calling him the Crapper. For ten years, he has “been recognized, scrutinized, analyzed, criticized, and even terrorized by a handful of the millions of Network Nanny viewers” (King, 2013, p. 39).

His sister, Tasha, continuously harassed him and physically abused him at a very young age. This type of bullying and home environment filled with abuse, negatively impacted this teen’s life causing him to have anger management issues. To cope with his anger, Gerald participated in anger management classes and even went to a boxing gym! The home environment was so toxic, that Lisi, one of Gerald’s sisters, moved (fled) to Scotland to study literature, psychology, and environmental science.

Luckily, Gerald did have supportive people in his life. Mr. Fletcher, Roger, and Hannah. Gerald was placed in the special education class by his mother; Mr. Fletcher is his teacher. Gerald respects him for his patience and his true desire to help his students. Roger is his anger management coach. He monitors his behavior and provides him with ways to manage his triggers. And, Hannah is the pretty girl he works with who stole his heart.

Unfortunately, neither of them are happy at home. Therefore, they decide to run away.  They simply hop in Gerald’s car, leave their dark life behind, and start their search for his friend Joe who works at a circus. Their plan is to never come back! But, after a phone conversation with his dad, they decide to return.

Gerald’s father made a drastic move: he moves out and takes Gerald with him. He also removed him for the special education classroom, and Gerald was able to take regular classes. He began to dream about college….and to dream again.

Reality Boy is definitely a page turner! You want to know what happens next! You need to know if they are coming back or not! This book is sure to keep young adults interested and engaged. I am sure students would be eager to read this after a librarian’s book talk.

In the classroom, while reading Reality Boy, students can open up and share their pain and the troubles they face as teens. This well written book can allow a “free to share” and “you will not be judged” discussion. Students can share their stories of abuse and broken homes. Reality Boy touches those hard to swallow subjects that probably many students experience. And, if there are some who have been blessed with growing up in stable home, they may read this book to learn about what it feels like to be bullied, harassed, abused, and rejected. Students can make self-to-text connections to improve their comprehension.

A.S. King has now become one of my favorite authors. Her writing style is filled with creativity, and she is extremely talented. She is the author of Still Life With Tornado, I Crawl Through It, Ask the Passengers, Everybody Sees the Ants, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, and many others. On her website, she has trailers for some of her books but not for Reality Boy. Luckily, a college student created an excellent trailer. You can access it by clicking on the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkUAclwRWx8

Home. A.S. King. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://www.as-king.com/