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Author: Fox, James

Reading age: from c 8 years

Published on 12 September 2024 by Scholastic in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 384 pages
196 x 129 x 26 | 272g

“A really lovely book, so tender and truthful.”

– Jacqueline Wilson, bestselling author of The Story

of Tracy Beaker“Expect to have

your heart broken and mended in one reading of this must-read

novel.” – Belfast Telegraph“A

tender, moving story beautifully capturing life in all

its light and shade” – Hannah Gold, author of Waterstones

Children’s Book Prize Winner The Last Bear“It

is a beautiful, heartfelt gem of a book, I loved

it.” – Tom Vaughan, author of Hercules“This

story is full to the brim with heart”

– Helen Rutter, author of The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh“Honest,

funny and touching,

Solo’s story will stay with you long after the last page.”

– Lisa Williamson“A moving…and

thought-provoking story” – Cath Howe, author of

Ella on the Outside

It’s not easy to fit in when you’re the boy in the suit…

Ten-year-old Solo – embarrassingly, that isn’t short for anything

– just wants to be normal.

He wants a name that doesn’t stand out. He wishes he had a proper

school uniform that fitted him. He dreams about a mum

who doesn’t get the Big Bad Reds, like his mum

Morag.

But most of all he longs to stop crashing funerals for the free

food.

But when Solo and Morag crash the funeral of a celebrity and get

caught, the press are there to witness their humiliation. The

next day it’s splashed across the papers. Before Solo knows it, he

becomes a viral sensation, and life may never

be normal again.

Solo’s uphill pursuit of security, community and connection will

break your heart and then mend it.

Page-turning, moving, but ultimately life-affirming, this story

is perfect for fans of The Boy at the Back of the Class, The

Goldfish Boy, Wonder and Jacqueline Wilson.

A sensitive, empathetic, timely portrayal of a family struggling

during the cost of living crisis.

This extraordinary debut will make you laugh and cry.