Spud-The Madness Continues...

By John van de Ruit

Book Overview

A group of misfit students, led by the infamous Crazy Eight, take on their second year at a boarding school in this hilarious and chaotic sequel to Spud.

"Plenty of humor. Those who enjoyed the first will likely love this volume."--Kirkus Reviews

"A rare book that men and their sons can laugh about together."--Best Life

"A deeply funny chronicle of male adolescence."--Entertainment Weekly

Spud Milton is back and about to begin his second rowdy year at (reformatory) boarding school Now he's nearly fifteen and has the most beautiful girlfriend in town. Life couldn't be better. Except for one tiny (make that very tiny) thing. He's still a spud

The madness continues when his dorm buddies, the legendary Crazy Eight, adopt an unusual new member (Roger the cat), and must contend with a fresh new batch of unruly, disobedient first years. Spud is soon plagued with women trouble, tricked into plenty of expulsion-worthy adventures, and horrified to find his dreams of Broadway fame in tatters after landing the part of the Dove of Peace in a disastrous production of Noah's Ark.

Can Spud survive another year of mischief and mayhem? Or has this little choirboy sung his last song?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595142452
• ISBN13: 9781595142450
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Razorbill
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Genius

How has no one reviewed this book yet? Spud: The Madness Continues is a sequel to van de Ruit's book Spud. The books are basically Adrian Mole at a South African boarding school (not named), except that John (Spud) Milton isn't an idiot (like Mole) and actually learns from his mistakes. The story is told as his diary, and is exclusively in the first person. John Milton is a small boy, whose voice breaks during the book (hence the nickname), and is from a lower middle class background. He won a scholarship to the school prior to the events of Spud, which one student said cost $20,000 a year, in 1991 no less. He tries hard to fit in with his dorm room mates, known as the Crazy Eight, and succeeds to a degree. The Crazy Eight include their leader Rambo, Boggo, Fatty, Simon, Mad Dog, Rain Man, Spud, and Roger the cat, who replaced the deceased Gecko. The exploits of the Crazy Eight are the focus of the book, and the parts that will make you start laughing until you have chest pains. In Spud, The Crazy Eight were the youngest year, and were fending off abuse from the upper years. This time around they have their own first years to torment, and they do it with such creativity and nastiness that you thank God that it's not happening to you, all the while your sides are heaving. There are also the usual romantic entanglements for poor Spud, though it's more on the backburner than it was in the first book. His battles to kiss his sort of girlfriend the Mermaid (Debbie) are quite funny, even as she moves him into friend territory. I could not recommend this book more if you want something to make you laugh. It takes the Adrian Mole premise and so improves on it to the point that you won't look at the other series the same way again, assuming you've read it (the first book even mentions Mole in passing). John van de Ruit is a brilliant comedic writer, and I can't wait for his next book in the series.