Spud: the madness continues (sequel)

The story is about John Milton's second year at an elite boys only private school. He has the nickname of Spud as he is the only boy in his dorm not to hit puberty yet.John in general dislikes his life, because of the major embarrassment he gets from having slightly deranged parents, a senile grandmother and being part of one of the most notorious gangs in the school. The main story revolves around John and the crazy 8 gang doing crazy things in school. Henry Barker "Gecko" dies in the end of the first book and John is deeply hurt that one of his best friends is gone. The crazy 8 is thus left with 7 members and they came up with the final decision to accept Roger the cat into the crazy 8. John is very pessimistic about many aspects of his life, especially his Johnness and has a low self-esteem when confronting personal matters, such as his shaky relationship with his girlfriend, Mermaid. In the early part of the book, he breaks up with her and John could not get over it. He still misses her and often cycles to her house during the holidays to get a glimpse of her. He was horrified to see her with a blonde surfer and she picking up smoking. In the end, they get back together. There was also a girl Amanda, a student of St Catherine that had come to know John last year. John has a crush on her and describes her as Julia Roberts. They have an on and off relationship due to her having a boyfriend and she being 2 years older that John.

Compared to the previous book, this book lacks imagination and excitement. The previous book was about John’s crazy first year, and the second book seems to be less crazy and radical as the formal. However, there are some exciting parts such as the crazy 8 sneaking around school and bullying first year juniors. This book also taps into one’s heart as you tend to feel sad alongside John’s misfortunes. I felt that many of these things that are described are also around me and I get a sense of familiarity when reading it.

Overall, I would give this book a 9 out of 10 for it being a book that one can feel for, and for its vivid descriptions of characters.