Laurence Augustine Rainbow is a normal kid, in a normal family. In the beginning, they are happy. But as the world moves around them, the beginning turns into the middle and things start to change. Larry’s life changes when his relationship with the street bully, Clinton, gets complicated. Larry’s mum, Denise, is shattered when she suffers a miscarriage. Vince, Larry’s neighbour and friend, starts to go blind. And everyone is changed forever when they lose Jemma, Larry’s best friend.
This intriguing book, interestingly peppered with commentary on Australian current events, follows the lives of a family that is both completely ordinary and entirely extraordinary. As this family’s story unfolds from Larry’s birth in 1990 to the time he is about 14, Larry and his family start to realise that while happiness is not inevitable, it might just be possible.
Scot Gardner’s Happy as Larry is recommended for 13+. PB $20
