GOTTA GET SOME BISH BASH BOSH

Another hilarious offering from Britain will keep readers laughing from first page to last. Our unnamed 14-year-old hero begins by losing his girlfriend to an older boy, because she says he doesn’t have enough “bish bash bosh,” British slang for “self confidence and swagger,” according to the glossary at the back. First he tries an expensive, radical new haircut, then sports, then an attempt to join the in crowd by going to a Halloween party that turns deadly dull. Throughout, he suffers from “PPFS,” Premature Parental Fatigue Syndrome, coping with parents who want him to actually wash his own socks. The results of his efforts are unexpected, to say the least. The focus and entire intent of the first-person story is comedy, with excellent results. This is a funny, funny outing, delivering entertainment to young readers on both sides of the pond. (Fiction. YA)