Eleven-year-old Joe can't remember a life outside of his hospital room, with its beeping machines and view of London's rooftops. His condition means he's not allowed outside, not even for a moment, and his few visitors risk bringing life-threatening germs inside his 'bubble'. But then someone new enters his world and changes it for ever.
I think I was perhaps more excited than my class when we visited the library van before Easter and I nabbed a copy of Bubble Boy. I've been trying to reserve a class set of them from our library, but every time I narrowly miss out to another school - showing just how popular this book is!
Bubble Boy follows the life of eleven-year-old Joe. He has a life threatening condition which means germs are his worst enemy and because of this he has spent his whole life inside a hospital room. For Joe the hospital staff have become his second family and he relies on the daily visits from nurse Greg and his older sister, Beth to cheer him up as well as his Skype conversation with his condition-sharing friend Henry in the USA.
Joe has become comfortable in the life he leads and as a reader, you become part of the daily routine he goes through and start to understand the daily stress that he must also face. However, all changes when new nurse, Amir, arrives, full of life, strange conversations and an alien obsession. At first Joe doesn't know what to make of this new addition to his hospital family, but once Amir has installed 30+ televisions in his room and explained about crop circles a dozen times it is clear that Amir is more than the average nurse.
What struck me about Bubble Boy was how realistically Stewart Forster portrays life inside the hospital. I became so invested in the story of Joe and his life behind perspex that when I did look up from the book it took me a few moments to readjust to my reality. Amir is a vibrant character and like Joe, at first I wasn't sure what this strange, alien-loving nurse was doing in such a heart-wrenching story. However, as the story unfolds you find yourself warming to his strange character and rooting for both him and Joe's successes.
Bubble Boy is a perfect Year 6 book. I can imagine it being a great read-aloud for children to get emotionally invested in and I guarantee there will be some tears of joy and sadness throughout.
A microscopic look into the world of a boy who has never seen the outside.
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