Fruit

Author: Brian Francis
Recommended Age: Young Adult/ Adult
Publisher: ECW Press
ISBN: 9978-1-55022-620-1
Year Published: 2004
No. Pages: 278
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Character Gender: Male
Read & Reviewed by: Tori

    

“My name is Peter Paddington. I just started grade 8 at Clarkedale Elementary School. Six days a week, I deliver the Sarnia Observer and the other day, my nipples popped out.”

Peter Paddington is an overweight thirteen year-old who believes his nipples are evil. Peter even begins having conversations with them. He doesn’t know what to do, so he starts taping his nipples to his chest to shut them up.

This book is a coming of age story in which Peter tells us what is going on in his life. Fruit expresses the truth of growing up with a splash of fresh humor to liven it up. In this novel, I discovered Peter is grappling with his sexuality and discovering he is gay by reading between the lines. I found it wildly humorous to read about Peter’s grasp on life because his view is completely different from that of the reader and that of reality. Peter takes himself seriously. He is a train wreck waiting to happen. For example, at one point in the novel he goes “Catholic” and prays to the Virgin Mary in his closet to help shrink his nipples.

Even though Peter was a great main character, I felt myself gravitating to Peter’s best friend Daniela. Daniela is a feisty Italian who always has a stuffed up nose, black curly hair with split ends (which Peter protests) and uses the F-word whenever she feels like. Daniela is not exactly gorgeous. Actually, she’s not pretty at all but she gets this ridiculous idea to enter a beauty pageant intending to win. I liked how Daniela is so independent and doesn’t take garbage from anyone.

I recommend this novel to mature readers who love outrageous books jam-packed with humor. I suggest this book to boys and girls, it’s a great book for any gender. I have never read anything like it before.