Ostrich Boys (review)

Blake, Sim, and Kenny are angered by the way their friend Ross' funeral went—a lot of people who bullied and otherwise made Ross' life miserable presumed to mourn the boy they never cared about in life. In order to honor Ross' legacy properly, they decide to steal his ashes and take them to Ross, Scotland, a place Ross had always planned to go in order to "find himself." They figure they will also be honoring their friend by making new stories, since Ross wanted to be a writer. Coping with lost train tickets, dwindling cash, unscheduled detours, and fears about repercussions, the boys argue their way from their hometown on the coast of England to southern Scotland, eventually coming to understand more about Ross' final days, the circumstances of his death, and the roles they all may have played in it. Rendered through Blake's first-person narration and lots of dialogue, the exploration of the many facets of their friendship has both candor and gentleness to it; it slowly dawns on Blake that the way the boys communicate has some pretty serious drawbacks, and that just because someone is your best friend, that doesn't mean you really know him. While the adventures the boys have are sometimes funny, the entire trip is tinged with the melancholic authenticity of teen boys grieving and growing up.