Fifteen-year-old Brett Gerson is a real-life S.R.K. (spoiled rich kid)–the guy you love to hate. Yep, Brett’s pretty much got life in t...
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reviews
Jun 16, 2011
Barky
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May 14, 2009
Duane
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Brett is a super spoiled rich boy who suddenly finds himself struggling with the real world when his dad is arrested for insider trading. When his mom,sister and him move in with their aunt, he soon learns how real people struggle from day to day. I admit I never grew to like Brett. Even at the end of the book, when he was suppose to have softened a little bit, he was still a ungrateful brat. I did enjoy the relationship Brett experiences with his boss, Alfie. It's a good book, just not one you'
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Jun 20, 2011
Terry
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For early high-school or middle school, this isn't a bad book. Brett Gerson is a spoiled rich kid who has to adapt to a much-reduced level of income while his father serves time for securities fraud. This first-person narrative alternates between Brett raging about his father's failures, ranting about his unfortunate circumstances, and drooling over the girl of his dreams. He quits a job, gets another, learns to drive, throws a party, yearns for a girl, grows up a little, and comes to detente wi
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Oct 04, 2011
Rachel
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I didnt really like this book for maybe the first quarter because all it was was a spoiled rich kid (Brett) who was complaining abt how his dad had ruined being rich for him but when Brett meets Alfie i started wanting to know what happened. I didnt like how Brett kept calling himself a man throughout the book becaus he was only 16 and hadmt learned anything abt life yet, so I thought that wud com up at the end saying that he finally was a real man. Over all it was a pretty good but and Brett ev
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Apr 26, 2011
Joanie
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Story of what happens to the family of a man who goes to jail for insider trading. Seen through the eyes of the angry adolescent son. The story was well-told, but I sincerely disliked our spoiled hero, who whined from beginning to end. His snobbery, his self-centered outlook, his lack of compassion for fellow humans, his commitment to never forgiving anybody - while these characteristics make him real, they also make him hard to care about. I like to like my characters.
Nov 11, 2010
Jesmine
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This book is about a super duper rich boy whose daddy went bankrupt when he was sent to jail. The boy, Brett, has to overcome many obstacles and was even forced to take up a part-time job as a pool cleaner and was forced to cleaned up pools in rich people's house where he used to swim in. When his boss, Alfie died, he then learnt the true meaning of friendship. I think this is an interesting book.
Jun 27, 2009
Arielle
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I read this when I was quite a bit younger... it was so different than anything I'd read before. I can remember probably 80% of the book and this was like, 7 years ago. That's when you know you've read a good book... when you can remember a majority of the content... the title...AND the author. Love this book.
Jun 18, 2009
Charles
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I enjoyed this book. Spoiled rich kid meets real life and grows up. Especially touching is the protagonist's relationship with his aging employer. A lot of YA lit cheeses me off with all the rich yuppie kids but Brett's fall from grace made things much more palatable.
Apr 29, 2010
Kaye
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This is a riches to rags story, where a spoiled rich kid becomes a spoiled poor kid, and then finally, a pretty decent kid all the way around. I was really into it the first half, but the endless whining and the heavy cynicism of the narrator started to weigh me down.
Jan 06, 2010
Jane
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Great book about growing up and accepting responsiblities. boy from wealthy family must work as a pool boy in his old neighborhood when the family looses all its money due to father's fraud. Ultimately, he learns to stand on his own two feet.
May 15, 2011
Catherine
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This was a fast read, and a good one. The chatty narrator is funny and likeable and keeps you interested in his story. My teenage son found the characters in this book more realistic than a lot of YA fiction. Recommended.
Oct 20, 2009
Conny
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Very interesting story about a boy whose family goes from "riches to rags" because his father goes to prison for fraud. He then becomes a pool boy, cleaning rich people's pools. It's touching and a little funny too.
Oct 22, 2008
TheSaint
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Brett Gerson's family was fabulously well-to-do: mansion, mercedes, pool -- the whole package. Then one day Brett's stockbroker dad is convicted of insider trading and the Gersons lose everything. They move in with a great aunt; Brett and his mom actually have to get jobs, and dad winds up in prison.
And Brett is furious. Wouldn't you be?
But man, is he a whiner: it kind of gets on a reader's nerves to hear his whining on every page of Pool Boy, by Michael Simmons. Luckily, the autho More...
And Brett is furious. Wouldn't you be?
But man, is he a whiner: it kind of gets on a reader's nerves to hear his whining on every page of Pool Boy, by Michael Simmons. Luckily, the autho More...
Sep 05, 2011
Alison
rated it:
I really liked this book! Brett evolved through the story and also became more likeable. I didn't like it because there wasn't really a point to it... Brett became a better person and another guy died.. so I didn't feel that that was the best ending.
May 30, 2011
Kimberly
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More of a life lesson type of book. I read it in one sitting by the pool , only took a few hours but wasnt bad at all.
Nov 02, 2009
Selina
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This book was not what I had in mind, I thought it would be interesting. It disappointed me, but at the end it was pretty sad. I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars. This book is mainly about a rich boy named Brett, who suddenly lost everything and his family has to go through struggle and money, because of what his father did. This is my first time reading Michael Simmons, I think I would read more of his books later on.
Jul 27, 2010
Flower
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Good read. Some funny and a small bit of sad. Passed it on to my 15 year old.
Dec 16, 2009
Carolyn Heinze
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Reminiscent of Peter from Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge, but a Peter that is more sophisticated and self-aware (can't picture Simmons'Brett Gerson worrying about wet dreams when his father is in the clink for insider trading and his once bourgeois family is now not so bourgeois). Simmons takes a snipper of teenage life and does, I believe, a classy job of portraying an adolescent boys struggle in dealing with very adult pressures with the mind and life experience of
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Jan 07, 2008
Carrie
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Basically, this is a book about Dick Casablancas. If Dick had a younger sister and still lived with his mother and had to move in with his aunt after his dad ended up in jail. Oh, and if Dick started working with the old man who cleaned their pool and learned valuable life lessons from said old man.
Jan 29, 2010
Sarah
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When his father is arrested for insider trading and his family loses all their money, Brett Gerson takes a job as an assistant to a 70-something pool cleaner in his former wealthy California neighborhood and learns some valuable life lessons.
Nov 01, 2008
Lauren
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I like this book a lot although I am reading this for school.
You deffinately should read this book!
You deffinately should read this book!
