Cheri's Reviews > The One-in-a-Million Boy

As this story begins, Ona Vitkus is a hundred and four years, one hundred and thirty-three days old. Born in Lithuania, raised in Maine where she’s lived since she arrived at the age of 4 years old. Her parents fled with her to the US in fear of the coming Russian invasion. Her parents spoke little English, where Ona can speak only English, a word or two of Lithuanian floating through her memory now and then.

The boy’s father, Quinn, appears two weeks after the boy had last visited Ona, doing what scouts do, assisting the elderly with chores that need periodic tending. Ona has been disappointed in all the previous Scouts until this latest boy, Quinn and Belle’s son. He’s different from the rest, more attentive, inquisitive. In his journal he’d written of her: “Miss Vitkus is EXTREMELY inspiring in her magic powers and AMAZING life events!!!” Quinn knows this since he has been reading this diary, a way for him to get to know his boy on a level he never could any other way, anymore.

The boy has been fascinated with numbers since he first learned to talk, his first words being: “one, two, three.” He’s fascinated with counting things, has an obsession objects in his lists in stacks of ten. He’s obsessed with world records, the Guinness World Records and begins recording sessions with Ona as she tells the story of her life according to his lists and questions. Ona is quite taken with him; he has become the closest thing she has had to a friend in a number of years. She enjoys the boy’s company, enjoys having something to look forward to. And so, over the course of time, as all love stories go, they become friends.

The more time that Quinn shares with Ona, the more he feels all the reasons why his son loved coming here. He has six more weeks to go before his 7 weeks of duty are finished, but he discovers that he really doesn’t mind being there. As he looks around he sees things that show touches of the boy’s presence. Maybe through his visits he’ll come to understand the boy.

The friendship between the boy and Ona is priceless. Charming. Endearing. The friendship which evolves between Quinn, and even Belle and Ona equally heartwarming. There are other people you come to know through Ona retelling the story of her life, some still living, some not. It’s all wonderful.

One young boy who’s a bit reminiscent of Owen Meany’s un-childlike tendencies (A Prayer for Owen Meany) and a storyline that is a bit reminiscent of Harold Fry’s Pilgrimage (“The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”), add salt from a few tears and you’re close to understanding a little bit about the magic that occurs between the pages of “The One-in-a-Million-Boy. ”

Tissues might come in handy.