Summer Helliday: The War Diaries of Alistair Fury, vol. 5

Kliatt, March, 2006 by Jodi L. Israel

SUMMER HELLIDAY: THE WAR DIARIES OF ALISTAIR FURY, VOL. 5. Jamie Rix. 2005. Read by Robert Llewellyn. 3 tapes. 3.25 hrs. BBC Audiobooks America. 1-4056-5082-6. $23.95. Vinyl; plot notes. J

Imagine Bill Amend's comic strip Foxtrot in Britain and you've described the Fury family. Alistair is the long-suffering youngest brother who dreams of becoming a celebrity. Well, that and making the lives of his two older siblings miserable. Eldest sister Mel is boy-crazy and older brother Will is cleanliness-adverse. Alistair believes his life is in clover when he is cast as the lead in a locally produced film. Unfortunately, the filming is to occur during the Fury motor-home summer holiday. The facts don't keep Alistair down for long. He hatches plan after plan to ruin the vacation. Hilarity ensues, as does bathroom humor.

Llewellyn has the soul of a ten-year-old boy, complete with outraged innocence and a conviction of least-favored-child status and the general unfairness of life, which is out to get him personally. Llewellyn's Granny is no slouch either. Between her bowel troubles and Scrabble games, she adds that special something to the family trip. Definitely a book to inspire little brothers everywhere. Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Jamaica Plain, MA