The Boy with Two Heads

The incredible story of a boy with two heads, from the acclaimed author of TrashHow would you feel if you woke up and found another head growing out of your neck? A living, breathing, talking head, with a rude, sharp tongue and an evil sense of humor. It knows all your darkest thoughts and it’s not afraid to say what it thinks—to anybody That's what happens to 11-year-old Richard Westlake, and life becomes very, very complicated. Part thriller, part horror, part comedy, this is one of the most riveting novels about fear and friendship that you will ever read.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6–10—This very long and painful slog features Richard, a Year Six British boy who undergoes a trauma and grows a paranoid and hate-filled second head, and the subsequent fallout from his/their awful behavior. Mulligan includes several extended, horrid, foul, and bigoted rants in the context of the schizophrenic second head lashing out. The underlying source of discord is his/their sense of subjugation to adult authority, personified by the cartoonish manipulative mad scientist psychologist/neurologist who pretends to help Richard/Rikki while actually plotting to harvest his/their brain. This book starts as delightfully camp—Richard is growing a second head and everyone is trying to treat him/them as normal—but the nebulous metaphor about a kid warring with himself as he tries to make peace with loss quickly devolves into a disorganized mess of unpleasant incidents with a protagonist who is unlikable and difficult to relate to. In the final 100 pages, Mulligan finally pulls things back together for an adventure-filled, friendship-heavy grand escape sequence. Language and context throughout are heavily British, which may add an additional sense of loss-in-translation for American audiences. VERDICT Black comedy with a creative hook, surely, but too unfocused and drawn out for most middle schoolers to bother getting through.—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

Daily Mail

"Mulligan certainly delivers in this extraordinary examination of grief. . . . A highly original, emotionally-charged black comedy/thriller. A worthy successor to Mulligan’s excellent Trash."

Publishers Weekly starred review on Trash

“This gripping book engages readers both as an adventure and as a social justice story. Readers will be satisfied by the cinematic conclusion and the noble decision the heroes make.”

About the Author

Andy Mulligan is the author of Ribblestrop and Trash, which has been published in 22 languages and is now a BAFTA-nominated major film.

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