Lottery Boy

I received this book as a free copy from the Early Reviewers.

The book is really compelling, leaves you on the edge of your seat from beginning to the end, leaving you cheering for Bully, and Jack. I have already recommended it to many of my friends.

It is one of those books that you pray they make

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into a movie, but at the same time fear if they do that they are going to ruin it. The book is not quite like anything I usually read, but I am glad that I did. I wish that it went on longer, though, the ending seemed a little rushed.

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I was pleased to win a copy of Library Boy through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. This the gritty and harrowing story of Bully a twelve year old who is struggling with the loss of his mother and their old life. Rather than stay with his mother's live in boyfriend Bully has chosen to live

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on the streets with his dog Jacky. When Bully finds a winning lottery ticket hidden in the last birthday card he received from his mom he quickly realized that he has no one he can trust. As the countdown to the deadline to claim the prize money begins slipping past, Bully races against time and ruthless people and towards a chance at a better life. This was a tough read because my heart was breaking for Bully and Jacky who seemed to face obstacles at every turn. I felt a strong connection to the two main characters and was rooting for them to beat the odds and find a better life. The ending left the possibility of another book with these characters which would be wonderful so I can find out how life turns out for Bully a few years down the road.

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After the death of his mother, and to avoid living with his step-father's new family, twelve-year-old Bully runs away to live in the streets. Together with his dog, Jack, Bully manages to survive. However, when he finds a winning lottery ticket tucked in the last birthday card he received from his

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mom, life takes a turn for the worst. Unable to trust anyone from the street, Bully is embarks on a five-day race to claim his prize and his life. The fear and immaturity of Bully comes through as well as his ingenuity. A believable tale of life on the streets and the dangers faced by young people who have lost trust in society. Highly recommended for reluctant readers.

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I know there are homeless children living in every large city in the world. And I suppose it is possible that a 12 year old homeless boy in London could survive on the streets with his dog over the winter. However, it does strain the bounds of credibility that the boy would find a winning lottery

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ticket in a card left him by his mother just before she died.

That is essentially the story told by Michael Byrne in this book. Bully (or Bradley as his mom called him) left home after his mom died. His birth father is not in existence and his step father has already moved on to another woman. He takes his dog, Jack, and a few other belongings including the birthday card his mother left for him. It was one of those cards that can be recorded and it is the last record of his mother that he has. She tucked the lottery ticket inside the battery compartment and he only found it about 5 days before it was due to expire. When he gets the ticket checked he finds out that it is the winner of a large prize but not how much. He is supposed to contact the lottery head office but he doesn't even have money to make a phone call. As he reads the ticket he realizes that only persons over 16 can buy or redeem a ticket. That is a dilemma which Bully tries to solve by telling some adult friends. They immediately see an opportunity for themselves and Bully and Jack have to evade a crew of lowlifes who want the ticket. As the hours and days tick by Bully tries to get to the headquarters and redeem his ticket.

There are some genuinely nice folks that Bully runs across but even some of them seem incredible. How many people returning from a vacation to find a dirty boy and dog sleeping on a bed in their house would feed him, clothe him, clean him up and then give him money? All without calling the police or the child protection people? Sorry, it just doesn't completely work for me.

However, I am not the intended audience for this book. It is billed as young adult fiction and I can see that teenagers would be caught up in the excitement and intensity of Bully's race to get his winnings.

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A gritty and at times violent thriller about a 12-year old homeless boy who survives in London's streets with his mixed (possibly pitfall) dog. After finding he owns a winning lottery ticket, Bully finds himself chased all over town by low-life and dangerous street thugs. I enjoyed the street lingo

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that Bully used (calling regular people zombies, for instance), and it was unpredictable enough that I kept reading. The ending was a bit choppy, but overall, I really enjoyed this story.

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I went from not wanting to pick this book back up at the beginning, to not being able to put it down at the end. I didn't really enjoy the first part of the story as I found the writing style difficult to read and follow. Once I got used to the style though, I started to enjoy the story. It follows

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a homeless boy who calls himself Bully, and his dog on their quest to redeem a wining lottery ticket. It shows the struggles faced by individuals who live on the street, as well as the added difficulties that come with being a teenager. Although Bully likes to think he is equipped to fend for himself, his inexperience with the world and people around him due to his age leads to his downfall many times. At the same time though, his youthful nature and quick wit get him out of many bad situations. Overall, this is a suspenseful story that will have the reader cheering for Bully in his journey to create a better life for himself. I would recommend this novel to middle school readers looking for a story with lots of adventure and suspense.

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It took me a very long time to get through this book. I just wasn’t into it. At first I was going to give it two stars, because I guess it’s an okay book. However, while writing this review I realized that I just didn’t like it.

I didn’t really like any of the characters. I didn’t even

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like Bully. I know he’s a kid, that he lost his mom, and her boyfriend is an ass, but that doesn’t mean he needs to be an ass. He just rubbed me the wrong way and I honestly didn’t feel sorry for him at all. I don’t think there is anything about this book I actually liked.

I’m not saying don’t read it, because you might enjoy it. It is a descent read, it just wasn’t for me.

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For me, this was a tough book to initially get in to. I was really intrigued by the premise and kept with it though, because I did want to see how the plot would turn out in the end. I did like the way it was organized with time, sort of like a countdown/the bomb will go off/24 type of vibe that

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helped maintain that feeling of urgency with the reader.

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