The Tuckshop Kid

Pat Flynn

UQP

August 2006 $16.95

81p pb

ISBN: 978-0702235672

The Tuckshop Kid was a really good book.  I enjoyed it because it was easy to read and made me laugh.  It’s about a boy called Matt who is known as the fat kid who gets teased.  But he has a talent called Tuckshop.  He talks to everyone in the line for the canteen about what they should buy to eat.  He asks them how much money they have and he tells them what would be their best options. He gets to buy his lunch everyday, but the doctor puts him on a diet.  I liked the jokes at the beginning of each chapter too. I recommend this book for anyone who likes reading and likes to laugh.

Nick, Year 6, Canberra, Australia

The Tuckshop Kid, by Pat Flynn, is about a boy, Matt, who doesn’t have many friends, but he has one great talent. Matt tells people in the tuckshop line what they can buy with their money. One day during P.E, Matt faints. He is quickly rushed to the doctor, and told that he has diabetes. So he starts taking care of himself, and starts eating more healthy foods. During this time, Matt creates a new bond with his mum, and they become much closer. Matt’s life gets better and better, and he becomes more happy and healthy. But that’s not all that happens in The Tuckshop Kid.

I found this book enjoyable and funny, even though I found it hard to relate to, as it has never happened to me, or anyone I know. It didn’t really hook me from the beginning, but I would recommend it to people who love to laugh. I really found it funny at the start of each chapter with thelittle jokes in the tuckshop list, e.g.:

Tuckshop List:

Gummy snakes……..$1.00

Real snakes…………$3.00

Lolly pops……………$1.50

Lolly pops, lolly pops, oh lolly, lolly, lolly, lolly pops…. $5.00

I think in this book Pat Flynn really tried to get the reader to feel the emotion of what was happening in Matt’s life. The Tuckshop Kid was a great book, and I would recommend it to ages of 9 to 14.

Erin, aged 11, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I really liked The Tuckshop Kid. I found it entertaining and couldn’t put it down. It is all about a boy named Matt who has trouble controlling what he eats. One day he faints at school and is quickly rushed to the doctors where he is told he has diabetes and he finds out he needs to set things right.

I think it was really smart to use an every day problem that some kids reading it could relate to it. I liked it because it had a mixture of humour and some not so funny parts which personally I think is really good for a book. I couldn’t relate to it but I think the story made me more interested in diabetes.

I recommend this book for both boys and girls who are about 10 to 15 because it has a lot of mature problems that some older children may need to understand as well.

Amelia, aged 11, Melbourne, Victoria