If left to his own devices, he'd do fine. So even though the year is a fraught and turbulent adventure, the reader can't help feeling none of it is Spud's fault. He also takes the lead in the school's production of Oliver, thanks to his excellent, unbroken voice. Despite his 'spudness' he juggles relationships with three attractive girls. He's an accomplished cricketer who helps win several matches. He's a conscientious student who discovers his literary namesake and enjoys reading. Although it's perhaps not correct to label Spud an underdog. John becomes Spud early on, when it's noticed in the communal showers that he's still embarrassingly pre-pubescent. It's one of the wonders of Van de Ruit's writing that no matter how outlandish these characters, we still believe in them, root for them, and fall for them. Perhaps fortunately for Spud, he's come from a home-life and parents no less bizarre. Rambo, Gecko, Rainman, Mad Dog et al are a frighteningly unhinged bunch to have to live with. Spud, however, has to do all of this and share a dormitory with the 'Crazy Eight'. It's the well-trodden route of many 'rites-of-passage' stories. Throughout this year Spud will have to learn about love and loyalty, nurture a social conscience, and deal with death. From the outset, Van de Ruit is determined to make both histories equally momentous. Nelson Mandela is to be freed, and (at the age of 13) Spud is starting his first year as a scholarship student at an elite boarding school in Durban. It's 1990 in South Africa, and a pivotal year for both the nation and John 'Spud' Milton. The author even acknowledges his influence when, with tongue firmly in cheek, he has his eponymous hero claim that Sue Townsend's book is the worst he's ever read. It's impossible to read Spud, John van de Ruit's hilarious debut, and not be reminded of that other great teenage diarist.

But I sometimes wonder if I was still not quite the right age. I saved the book up, however, deciding to read it when I, too, was 13. Adrian was, of course, three and three-quarter years my senior. I first discovered his secret diary, published in 1982, that same year when I received it as a gift on my 10th birthday.

Concerned as I am about inciting envy among older readers, I feel entitled to point out that I'm younger than Adrian Mole.

Spud by John van de Ruit