Review of "Reality Boy" by A.S. King

Reality Boy by A.S. King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Pub. Date: October 22, 2013
Pages: 368

Short Sweet Synopsis: As a child, Gerald was on a reality TV show where he was named "The Crapper" for pooping all over the place.  Gerald is now a teen with anger issues just trying to survive a life where everyone knows your family issues, or at least they think they do.

"Reality Boy" by A.S. King is an amazing book.  I hate to admit this, but I am a sucker for reality tv.  I like watching shows about people in situations very different than my own.  Many of them I find inspiring or just plain intriguing.  While I know a lot of it is staged and altered, I can get sucked into the stories so easily.  "Reality Boy" describes how damaging these shows can be, especially to children who find themselves being taped 24/7.  I don't watch reality shows that feature children, but this book is definitely going to be in the back of my mind while watching them in the future.

Gerald is a great character with a heartbreaking childhood.  There is much more going on in his life than just being upset about his childhood "stardom" as "The Crapper".  Parts of the book were difficult to read, not just because of what Gerald had to go through, but more so because of the lack of support from his family.

"Reality Boy" is gritty realistic fiction.  I've only read one other book by A.S. King, "Dust of 1000 Dogs", and I HATED it.  I honestly didn't think I would ever pic up a book by her, but after hearing rave reviews of her other books, I finally decided to give her another shot.  I'm so glad I did!  I now see why everyone raves about King and I look forward to reading other books by her.  "Reality Boy" makes it on the list of my favorite books released in 2013, and will be one of my favorite books read in 2014.

Part of the reason I loved "Reality Boy" so much was because it was just the right book for me to read at the time.  Some of the characters reminded me of loved ones, and not all in a good way.