The Astounding Broccoli Boy
From the UK Children's Laureate 2024–2026
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
The Astounding Broccoli Boy is the hilarious tale of an unlikely (and very green) hero believing in himself and finding adventure. Written by the award-winning UK Children's Laureate 2024–2026, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and illustrated throughout by Steven Lenton. Perfect for children aged 8+.
Green by day, hero by night!
Rory Rooney likes to be prepared for all eventualities. His favourite book is Don't Be Scared, Be Prepared, and he has memorized every page of it. He could even survive a hippo attack. He knows that just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it won't ever happen . . .
But Rory isn't prepared when he suddenly and inexplicably turns green. Stuck in an isolation ward in a hospital far from home with two other remarkably green children, Rory's as confused by his new condition as the medics seem to be.
What if turning green actually means you've turned into a superhero? Rory can't wait to make it past hospital security and discover exactly what his superpower might be . . .
'Brilliantly funny, believable and very human' - The Bookseller
'A funny, silly and underlyingly serious story about self-belief . . . and the value of being nice to people' - The Sunday Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A cat flu epidemic (dubbed "Killer Kittens" by the media) has England in hysteria after 12-year-old Rory Rooney turns a "light broccoli green." Hospitalized for fear of contagion, Rory is horrified to learn that his equally green roommate is Tommy-Lee Komissky, a kickboxing champ who has terrorized Rory at school. A quick thinker, Rory determines that the skin tone they share with the Hulk and Green Goblin suggests a clear diagnosis: they have become superheroes. (Rory is further convinced after he apparently teleports to save his sleepwalking roommate from a rooftop fall.) The sleepwalking episodes launch the duo into London after dark, where they innocently break into Buckingham Palace, free all the zoo animals (collecting some penguin pals), and befriend the prime minister. In an afterword, Boyce (Cosmic) reveals his inspiration for this kooky, charming tale as the medieval legend of the green children of Woolpit, but the humorous hijinks are decidedly Dave Barry-esque. A lengthy novel told in short chapters, it also offers up a message worth embracing: "The thing that makes you different," Rory concludes, "is the thing that makes you Astounding." Ages 8 12.
