The Bubble Boy by Stewart Foster

Book of the Week: 18 September 2016

Joe has an immune deficiency condition that means he has had to spend his entire life in a sterile hospital room. As if this isn’t enough, his parents were killed in a car crash some years ago and his only relative is his sister Beth who is studying to be a doctor. Beth visits him as often as she can but she has her own life to lead and her studies mean she has to move from London to Edinburgh. Joe’s other relationships are with the nurses and doctors who take care of him, particularly his nurse, Greg, who calls him ‘mate’, and with Henry who lives in America and has a similar condition.

Joe is frequently poorly and understandably anxious about the outside world. He likes watching football and superhero movies and sometimes the life that goes on outside his hospital windows. Into this closed environment comes a new nurse, Amir, who acts slightly crazy and who seems to believe in extra-terrestrials. Joe wonders if he is for real but also finds that Amir has plans to enliven the routine of hospital life. Should he go along with Amir’s schemes or carry on with life as he knows it?

If you are looking for an action-packed plot then this is probably not the book for you. If, however, you enjoyed books such as Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nichols and Life Interrupted by Damian Kelleher you may like this.