The One-in-a-Million Boy

Scout’s Honour

Most people must have forgotten all about Boy Scouts and their do-gooding; it is at the core of Monica Wood’s heartwarming novel, The One-in-a-Million Boy.

The eleven-year-old boy in the book remains unnamed for some reason and always referred to as “the boy.” He is  pale, thin, wide-eyed autistic wonder boy with a penchant for lists, a passion for the Guiness Book of Records and the remarkable ability to empathise with and befriend an old woman.

Ona Vitkus is the real heroine of the novel—she is 104 years old of Lithuanian origin, but she has little recollection of her childhood. She is healthy for her age and lives alone, satisfied with her lot till the boy appears at her doorstep with his overenthusiastic scout master, Ted Ledbetter. She has rejected several helpers for laziness or slovenliness, but the boy, with his willingness to work, meticulousness and politeness wins her heart. The boy awakens in her a desire to live longer and make it to the Guiness Book of Records; he also nudges her memory for her life gone by and coaxes her to reveal her the story and her long-buried secrets on tape for his school project on grandparents. A few pages into the novel, the boy dies. His father Quinn is made to go to Ona’s house by his grieving twice-ex-wife Belle, to finish the boy’s assignment.

Quinn, a musician, always on the road with his gigs, wasn’t much of a father to the boy, and after the two divorces from Belle is even more of an absentee dad. The child’s death evokes latent guilt in him with results in his going to Ona’s aid and forming an even stronger friendship with her than his son.

Ona is determined to fulfill the boy’s desire to see her name in the famous book of records, but she needs documents to prove her age, which she does not have. Quinn is coerced into taking her on a long journey to retrieve her birth certificate, which her firstborn might have.  Belle joins in and the trip makes the parents evaluate their own lives.  It’s as if, through his death, the boy gave meaning and a sense of purpose to the people who loved him.

Monica Wood writes with acuity about her characters, the boy, Ona, Quinn, Belle, Ted and the others who cross their paths, including a bunch of gospel rockers Quinn works with on and off. The tragedy of the boy’s death soaks through the pages, but never overwhelms its tone of gentle humour. Neither does the novel ever get mawkish, even though it is about coping with grief. The One-in-a-Million Boy is highly recommended.

The One-in-a-Million Boy

By Monica Wood

Published by Headline

Pages: 406