In this hilarious send up of self-help guides and
larger-than-life celebrity life coaches Ben Davis introduces Freddie, gamer and
son of a failed antiques dealer, and Chuck Willard, 'inspirer and giver of
dreams'.
Things aren’t going too well for Freddie Smallhouse. His dad
left his successful job to set up his own business which failed and now they’re
living at Uncle Barry’s but he’s about to kick them out. Freddie enrols on
Chuck’s Complete Road To Awesomeness programme and sets about trying to make
the family’s fortune. One failure after another doesn’t perturb our hero, not
when he’s got Chuck’s AWESOME tips and advice to hand.
In this laugh-out-loud tall tale Freddie learns about
friendship, integrity and true success as he muddles his way through his
response to his dad’s despondency. Amongst the hilarity (the headteacher is
called Mr. Bümfacé
– pronounced ‘Boomfachay’) there’s a really touching story of how a
not-quite-yet teenager might try crazy things in an attempt to deal with a
difficult home situation.
‘Make Me Awesome’ is an easy read yet the age of the protagonist
(he’s at secondary school), and a couple of the jokes (reference to the rude
channels on TV and perverts, for example), mean that this would be really suitable
for reluctant KS3 readers as well as KS2 children. With better, slightly more
sophisticated jokes than a David Walliams and more plausibility than a Diary of
a Wimpy Kid book, ‘Make Me Awesome’ will go down very well with those children looking
for a funny, quick read.