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kendranicole28 's review for:
The One-in-a-Million Boy
by Monica Wood
Curmudgeonly Ona Vitkus is 104 years old and healthy as can be, but without a friend in the world. That is, until an 11-year-old Boy Scout begins helping out around her house and begins taking an interest in her life, which he begins to document via a series of tape recorded interviews. The boy, who is a walking encyclopedia, has a passion for memorizing Guinness world records, and together he and Ona embark on a mission to get Ona a place within the book. Then, one Saturday, the boy fails to show up at One’s house. In his place is the boy’s father, Quinn.
Quinn is a musician and was mostly absent from his son’s life, but now that his child is gone, Quinn is determined to make up for his parental shortcomings by fulfilling his son’s obligations to Ona. Neither Quinn nor Ona is initially happy with this arrangement, but they soon begin to bond, united by their joint love for a boy neither of them truly knew but whose brief life left an unshakable legacy.
This is a quiet story, but a sweet one. It is a tale of unexpected friendship, of loss, of the ways that we grieve, of parenthood and marriage, of aging (or never getting the chance to age), and of redemption that can be found in every hidden corner of life, arriving in the most unforeseen places and always just on time. Through Ona’s long life and the boy’s short one, we explore the value and purpose of our time here on earth and how a seemingly inconsequential or insignificant existence can resonate through the lives of those around us.
The book’s structure is unique, alternating between Quinn’s story of struggle and striving, and the boy’s interviews with Ona, whose life was no more hopeful than Quinn’s; these interviews were my favorite parts of the novel, as they offer windows into the heart and character of the remarkable young boy, even though we never meet him directly (or even learn his first name). His light shines brightly between the dimming beacons of Ona and Quinn, and his tragic story (rather counterintuitively) manages to offer hope in what might otherwise be a bleak book. The result is a story that is sentimental but not saccharine, offering positive messages, memorable characters, and a thoughtful reflection on the things that are most important.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars. (Rounded up to 5 stars on Goodreads.)
This review first appeared on my personal blog, https://kendranicole.net/april-2021-quick-lit-fiction-reads/
Please visit my site for more book reviews: https://kendranicole.net/category/book-corner/
Quinn is a musician and was mostly absent from his son’s life, but now that his child is gone, Quinn is determined to make up for his parental shortcomings by fulfilling his son’s obligations to Ona. Neither Quinn nor Ona is initially happy with this arrangement, but they soon begin to bond, united by their joint love for a boy neither of them truly knew but whose brief life left an unshakable legacy.
This is a quiet story, but a sweet one. It is a tale of unexpected friendship, of loss, of the ways that we grieve, of parenthood and marriage, of aging (or never getting the chance to age), and of redemption that can be found in every hidden corner of life, arriving in the most unforeseen places and always just on time. Through Ona’s long life and the boy’s short one, we explore the value and purpose of our time here on earth and how a seemingly inconsequential or insignificant existence can resonate through the lives of those around us.
The book’s structure is unique, alternating between Quinn’s story of struggle and striving, and the boy’s interviews with Ona, whose life was no more hopeful than Quinn’s; these interviews were my favorite parts of the novel, as they offer windows into the heart and character of the remarkable young boy, even though we never meet him directly (or even learn his first name). His light shines brightly between the dimming beacons of Ona and Quinn, and his tragic story (rather counterintuitively) manages to offer hope in what might otherwise be a bleak book. The result is a story that is sentimental but not saccharine, offering positive messages, memorable characters, and a thoughtful reflection on the things that are most important.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars. (Rounded up to 5 stars on Goodreads.)
This review first appeared on my personal blog, https://kendranicole.net/april-2021-quick-lit-fiction-reads/
Please visit my site for more book reviews: https://kendranicole.net/category/book-corner/