The 1000 Year Old Boy

September 15, 2019
When one's permanently stuck at age 11, living forever can lose its appeal. Being one of the legendary "Neverdead" thanks to a magic potion, Alve (aka "Alfie") has spent the past millennium or so with his equally immortal mom and cat, just getting by and keeping out of sight. What has become increasingly difficult in today's Britain turns impossible when, tragically, his mother is killed (they are not invulnerable) in a house fire--leaving him injured, traumatized, and all too exposed to local police and social services. Fortunately, there's an antidote to the potion. Unfortunately, he's outwardly 11 (albeit polylingual, classically educated, and well versed in 17th-century fighting techniques) and owns nothing except a rescued trunk of autographed Dickens first editions. Welford gives his world-weary protagonist several resourceful allies led by Roxy Minto, a young neighbor of West Indian descent with a big personality, and her naïve but game sidekick, Aidan (who, like Alve, presents as white and who shares narration duties with him). Alve not only has to cope with modern life and elude civil authorities, but also to evade a brutal adversary who's been after the antidote for centuries. If readers find themselves wishing for more than tantalizing glimpses of Alve's experiences in earlier centuries, his immediate plight is absorbing, as sharply felt as both the weight of all those years and the shining promise of being able to grow up at last. The sweet and sour of immortality infuses a heady, heartbreaking, occasionally humorous tale. (Fantasy. 11-13)

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Starred review from October 15, 2019
Grades 5-7 *Starred Review* It all started as a lark: Aiden and Roxy, his petite and very capable next-door neighbor, spying on the mysterious cottage in the woods, where Alfie, who looks about 11 years old, lives with his mother. But soon the real adventure begins. After Alfie escapes from the house fire that kills his mother, he hides out in Roxy's shed. Befriending her and Aidan, Alfie confides that he, one of the legendary Neverdeads, is more than 1,000 years old. And gradually, reluctantly, they come to believe him. In order to retrieve a hidden life-pearl that will enable Alfie to grow up, age, and die normally, they carry out a plan that endangers them all. Shifting between the two boys' points of view, the dual first-person narrative begins with Aiden lonely and out of sorts in his new neighborhood. It gradually builds in intensity as Alfie's situation becomes increasingly desperate. The author of Time Traveling with a Hamster (2016) and What Not to Do If You Turn Invisible (2018), Welford is an English writer with a gift for storytelling and a good sense of what will intrigue readers, what will amuse them, and how to juxtapose the two effectively. This well-paced novel will resonate with thoughtful readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)