The One-In-A-Million Boy (R)

Trade Paperback

Winner of the Nautilus Award and the New England Society Book Award, Monica Wood’sThe One-in-a-Million Boyis the incandescent story of a 104-year-old woman and the sweet, strange young boy assigned to help her around the housea friendship that touches each member of the boy’s unmoored family.

“The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don’t they teach you anything at school?”

So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who’s been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she’s confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades.

One Saturday, the boy doesn’t show up. Ona starts to think he’s not so special after all, but then his father arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son’s good deed. The boy’s mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that the world can surprise us at any age, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find ourselves again.

Readers wont be able to resist falling for OnaThe conclusion will leave them smiling through their tears.Shelf Awareness

PoignantThere is much to enjoy in this heartfelt tale of love, loss, and friendship.Express

A must-read bookWhimsical and bittersweet.Good Housekeeping