Misery Guts
Morris Gleitzman
Misery Guts is about a young boy named Keith
and follows him on his quest to ‘cheer up his parents’. His parents own a fish
and chip shop in London and to cheer them up Keith has a tropical fish shipped
over from Australia. When this doesn’t work to cheer them up he decides the
only way that his parents will ever be happy again will be if they move to
Australia. However what Keith doesn’t realise is that their real troubles are
economic, as competition in the fish and chip business is growing.
Gleitzman throws a real twist into the story when
Keith’s parent’s fish and chip shop is burnt to the ground. After this happens
they decide that it is for the best to move to Australia after all. Upon moving
to Australia, some of Keith’s friends warn him about some of the dangers that
he will face when there; crocodiles, poisonous jellyfish, etc. But when they
actually move there they find warm weather, friendly neighbours, and a welcome
upturn in their fortunes.
The themes that are brought up in this novel are from
the viewpoint of a young boy who is trying to cheer up his miserable parents. The
themes covered in this novel include; family relationships, facing adversity
and chance. Family relationships are covered throughout the whole novel with
Keith always trying his best to cheer up his parents. Facing adversity and
chance are brought up when the family takes a chance by moving to Australia
after their holiday, when their fish and chip shop is accidentally burnt to the
ground. These themes could lead into an English program through having the
students make connections to their own lives, with an event/s that they may
have taken a chance with after something had gone wrong.
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