Henry Tumour

Henry Tumour, written by Anthony McGowan, is a hilarious novel which deals with all the problems of adolescence...and talking brain tumours.

Written in the first person narrative of high-school geek Hector Brunty, Henry Tumour focuses on the nerds of the horrifying school, The Body Of The Christ, where the bullies with their shit-sticks rule the playground, and the teachers are either nice or evil, and where boys like Hector and his friends aren't allowed to fancy the popular, drop dead gorgeous girls like Uma Upshaw.

Henry Tumour starts off with Hector visiting the doctor's surgery, which is the first time Hector hears the voice of Henry, a tumour that pretty much has creative control over his life. Before long, Henry is forcing Hector into getting the cool attitude, the cool friends, and the cool clothes and a super-trendy haircut, called the "Hoxton Fin", all in order to attract the best-looking girl in the school, Uma Upshaw.

But everything seems to go disastrously wrong when Hector takes Uma on a date that turns out to be a walk to the local churchyard. Saving her from her Friday-night job in the chippy that her father owns, Henry breaks the couple's peaceful mood, successfully managing to unbutton Uma's blouse, earning Hector to be branded "a psycho", and left alone in the churchyard.

But whilst Henry still wants another few moments alone with Uma, Hector is slowly falling for a girl he barely knew existed before his life was turned upside down by a talking brain tumour. To him, Amanda Something is pretty much perfect, and despite Henry's disagreements, Hector is prepared to do what he wants.

Having been diagnosed, and now waiting for a life-saving operation, Hector sets out on a quest to defy Henry's taste in girls.

Henry Tumour is a heart-wrenching, extremely comical book that watches an extraordinary teenage boy deal with a life-or-death situation, and come out of it with flying colours. This book never fails to give you a good laugh, so my rating has got to be 10 out of 10.

The story is one-of-a-kind, and Anthony McGowan guarantees to have you wiping tears of laughter away from your eyes.

Overall, it has to be one of the best books I have ever read.