John Howard van de Ruit is een Zuid-Afrikaanse auteur die wordt gevierd om zijn geestige en inzichtelijke verhalen. Zijn werken duiken vaak in de complexiteit van opgroeien en maatschappelijke observaties, weergegeven met een onderscheidende komische toets. Van de Ruins unieke vertelstem heeft aanzienlijke erkenning gekregen, waardoor zijn boeken een favoriet zijn bij lezers die op zoek zijn naar intelligente en vermakelijke literatuur. Zijn schrijven biedt een boeiende verkenning van de menselijke natuur en de sociale landschappen die we bewonen.
Spud Milton is in his final year at boarding school. Now a prefect and on cusp of adulthood, he thinks this may be his best year yet. But soon his life is as chaotic as ever as he wages a battle for his room, directs a play in which the actors refuse to learn their lines and (most terrifyingly of all) attempts to find a date for the matric dance.
Spud Milton (practically a man in most areas) is hoping for a smooth ride as he returns to boarding school as a senior. But instead he finds his vindictive arch-enemy is back to taunt him and a garrulous new boy has taken residence in his dorm, along with the regular inmates and misfits he calls friends.
Spud's nearly 15 and although he is no longer the youngest or the smallest in his dorm, his second year at boarding school is beset with women trouble, misguided late-night adventures and excruciating family visits. He is a boy who discovers that the long path to manhood is never easy, especially when all around him the madness continues.
Armed with only his wits and his diary, the author takes us from illegal nightswimming to the cricket field, from ghostbusting to teacher baiting. He also invites us into the mind of a boy struggling to come to terms with a strange new world; a boy whose eyes are being opened to love, friendship and complete insanity.