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Description
Nominated - Silver Birch Fiction Award, 2012
This is an extraordinary story about a 13-year-old boy named Lee who loves setting personal and odd records. He's obsessed by them in fact - from tracing the annual public marathon with his dog Santiago to bouncing a basketball in the school playground for 12 hours straight with no one around - but he's not interested in going public with them.
Along the way Lee collects famous quotes from all manner of famous people whose lives and words have encouraged him - and provided inspiration during trying times. In addition he sees himself as the director of the definitive movie about his life, focusing on the light and dark moments he experiences as he seeks a raison d'etre for his life.
Above all, he seeks to escape being ordinary, and when he's confronted with the greatest challenge of his young life - saving his pesky friend from certain death - his strength of character and purpose demonstrate that he is anything but ordinary.
About the Author
Colleen Sydor was born and raised in Winnipeg, where she lives with her husband and three children, and works as a writer and floral designer. She brings quick wit and a lively sense of language to her books for young readers. Four of her books have won the McNally Robinson Book For Young People award. Sydor's children have always been grist for her writer's mill. She finds that as they grow in feet and inches, so her stories are lengthening as well.
Praise For…
Thirteen-year-old Lee McGillicuddy longs to make his mark on the world and set a record for mastery of something—anything: “[T]he thought of being ordinary seemed like the worst life sentence in the world.” Both Albert Einstein (discovered through an Internet quote-a-day service) and Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (a book his father read to him yearly before dying) provide informing themes for Lee’s quest. Lee gets his chance in a frightening and unexpected way when horseplay around an old well puts his eccentric younger friend Rhonda (“My name’s Ron”) in danger. At times the narrative is overly self-conscious, including a bit of unlikely speechifying by Rhonda and a badly misjudged entry in a collection of faux–good wishes from literary and other historical luminaries: "Jo tau, Mista Ree!--Confucius." But the cinematic treatment of the rescue sequence, complete with a glimpse inside the furry brain of Lee’s dog, Santiago, is funny and well paced. By turns awkwardly preachy, humorous and poetic—something like early adolescence itself, with perseverance and angst, artifice and sincerity running side by side. (Fiction. 10-14) Kirkus Reviews
The biggest challenge one faces in life is themselves. “The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records” tells the tale of Lee McGillicuddy, a thirteen year old who drives himself to greatness by keeping and breaking his own personal records. But meeting challenges isn’t always an easy triumph, and when the stakes of his friend’s life are on the line, Lee must meet the challenge. “The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records” is a fun and uplifting read for young readers. The Fiction Shelf
Colleen Sydor’s The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records is a fresh, original novel about 13-year-old Lee, a boy who seeks to be remarkable by setting personal records, such as number of hours bouncing a basketball. He has a dog, Santiago, who might not have the greatest short term memory but is very loving. Lee’s mother is a bouncer at a bar. It turns out that Lee is remarkable for reasons that have nothing to do with records. Well written; a good story. Highly recommended. Ages 12 and up. HI-RISE September 2010