The 1000 Year Old Boy has a rather British air, cultural references that won't land for an American audience. They don't prevent the reader from understanding the story, simply serve as a distraction. Welford has created a complex mythology that is well integrated into the real world. This is largely accomplished by only relaying the necessary details. We aren't told the whole history of the Neverdeads, the complexity of how the pearls work. We are only given the information required to understand the plot as it stands. I might have liked a little more groundwork for the identity of the villain but it ultimately works. A bit emotionally distant but readable.

I really wish kids books would stop using curse words. Finding good books for kids is hard enough, and it’s a shame when good stories are left out of classrooms because of language. This is not something I feel comfortable putting in my classroom.

If you had the chance to live forever, would you take it? If you later had the means to reverse it, would you? Alfie Monk is one of the few of his kind left. He has been eleven years old for over 1,000 years, and frankly, he’s getting tired of it. While at first the idea of never aging may sound wonderful, Alfie knows the reality of it is much more difficult and painful than most would imagine.

Alfie longs for friends, but how do you have friends without your secret coming to light in just a matter of time? Who will understand your situation, not label you “weird”, and not endanger your safety by telling others? There are those who will go to great lengths to discover his secret and exploit it. Danger and loneliness are constants in young Alfie’s life.

The 1000 Year Old Boy is a captivating and magical read. The book is very well-written, and the characters of Alfie and his two new friends Aiden Linklater and Roxy Minto jump out of the pages and become real. The adventures, emotions, dangers, losses, victories of these three had me laughing, cheering, and crying. This is an amazing, endearing and poignant book in so many ways. I will remember it for a long time. Five stars from me!!

Kudos to the author, Ross Welford, for creating a children’s book that can be enjoyed and loved by all ages. Many thanks to NetGalley and Schwartz & Wade for allowing me to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus



Alfie (or Alve) was born in the North... back when the VIkings were invading. He and his mother and cat were all made immortal by a substance is a glass ball (livperler) that his father had taken from someone in battle. They can still be killed, which is how he lost his father in battle, and his mother in a fire that burned down the house in England where they had lived for the better part of 200 years. It is always a problem to be perpetually eleven, and Alfie has found it hard to make friends. When he loses his mother, he is forced to rely on children his age, Aidan and Roxy, to help him. Aidan's family has fallen on some hard times, and he is being picked on by some of the boys with whom he used to be friends. Roxy has just moved into the neighborhood, and her mother is in a wheelchair following a bout with cancer. The two have seen Alfie in the woods, and have their suspicions about his true identity and past. They are glad to help him, and believe his story. Alfie has had a lot of interesting life experiences, such as meeting Charles Dickens, who signed a number of books for him. One of these books was stolen by a friend, Jack, who eventually abandoned Alfie, and whose son, John, bullied him. The only way for Alfie to reverse the immortality is to find the last livperler and rub the substance into his skin again, but the livperler were hidden by him and his mother on an island that is not easy to access. When Alfie eventually ends up in care and must attend school, he finds out that the island is going to be excavated by archaeologists, and he asks his new friends to help him. Will they be able to find the livperler before another Neverdead, Aidan's Uncle Jasper, is able to get to them?

Strengths: This is definitely a fresh premise; I can only think of two other books with immortal characters; Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life and Ferney. (I've owned several copies of this and keep lending it out and not getting it back. Sigh.) The circumstances under which Alfie meets and seeks help from Aidan and Roxy seem completely realistic, and it's nice to see them all work together. There is a German archaeologist who helps the children who is completely delightful! It was easy to follow the plot, and Alfie's glimpses into times past were amusing. Really enjoy Welford's work.
Weaknesses: Meeting up with Jack's descendants and with Jasper seemed a bit too coincidental, but perhaps people don't move around England the way they do around the US.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing. These won't be constantly checked out, but will see steady use for a number of years. I am very impressed by the originality and readability of Welford's writing.

I was actually quite excited to read this book. The plot sounded interesting and based on the sample, the writing seemed pretty good.

Unfortunately it was just rather boring and slow-moving. I felt like I was trudging through this story to the point where I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore.

The ending was sweet though.

All in all, I don’t think I will be purchasing this one in October when it’s released.

Alfie is a 1,000 year old boy. A little older, actually. He and his mother used life pearls to make them ageless, and have been living and adapting to the times ever since. Alfie has kept his secret for centuries, until Aidan and Roxy come along and befriend him. After a fire that leaves Alfie without his mother, he is determined to find the last remaining life pearl in the entire world so that he can continue to age and die like a normal person. It would seem this task would be easy enough, except that there is one other ageless in the world who will stop at nothing to get the pearl first. Will Alfie be able to get the pearl and resume a normal life? Or is he doomed to stay eleven forever?

I enjoyed the plot of this book and especially loved the ending! However, the beginning of the book felt like it moved rather slowly and included a lot of historical references that could have been trimmed to keep the reader's interest.