The One-in-a-Million Boy

By Monica Wood

Book Overview

The incandescent story of a 104-year-old woman and the sweet, strange young boy assigned to help her around the house -- a friendship that touches each member of the boy's unmoored family For years, guitarist Quinn Porter has been on the road, chasing gig after gig, largely absent to his twice-ex-wife Belle and their odd, Guinness records-obsessed son. When the boy dies suddenly, Quinn seeks forgiveness for his paternal shortcomings by completing the requirements for his son's unfinished Boy Scout badge. For seven Saturdays, Quinn does yard work for Ona Vitkus, the wily 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant the boy had visited weekly. Quinn soon discovers that the boy had talked Ona into gunning for the world record for Oldest Licensed Driver -- and that's the least of her secrets. Despite himself, Quinn picks up where the boy left off, forging a friendship with Ona that allows him to know the son he never understood, a boy who was always listening, always learning. The One-in-a-Million Boy is a richly layered novel of hearts broken seemingly beyond repair and then bound by a stunning act of human devotion.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 054461707X
• ISBN13: 9780544617070
• Release Date: April 2016
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Length: 323 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Interesting premise.

I thought that this book had an interesting premise for a story, but that the book itself was too long. I ended up finding reading it somewhat tedious, although there were certainly parts of it that I did enjoy reading and that I did find interesting. I did question how realistic/possible some of the adventures of the main character would possibly be for a woman of her advanced age, which is a central point in the book. So just an”OK”, from me.