Ray Vs the Meaning of Life

by Michael F Stewart

Overview

"Stewart presents readers with a dynamite coming-of-age story ... A tale spins its answer to an age-old question into an inclusive, hilarious, and thought-provoking yarn."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Grandma's Last Will and Testament names Ray to inherit the trailer park. It's a million-dollar estate with one hitch: to prove he's not as aimless as he seems, Ray must discover the meaning of life by the end of the month. (She left the answer in an envelope.) If he fails, the camp goes to his estranged family.

How does anyone find the meaning of life while running a park full of misfit miners, would-be truck racers, and one demanding little girl? There's a bear too. A grizzly. Maybe that'll help?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781989133002
Publisher:	Publishing House
Publication date:	05/15/2018
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.64(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Michael F. Stewart embraces all forms of storytelling. In 2009, he created Bully For You for Scholastic, a fully functioning social media platform with an embedded interactive story. He's written graphic novels for Rubicon Publishing's Boldprint series, illustrated early readers and novellas for Pearson (coming in 2019!), non fiction texts on Corruption and Children's Rights; he even tried to convince the world that we needed a location based storytelling app with augmented reality (NARR8R)-we still do! He's written adult horror, sci-fi, urban fantasy, and adventure. He's even written books you'll never find. But nothing is ever wasted. His most recent book, Counting Wolves, a contemporary YA, was named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2017 list. The Boy Who Swallows Flies (2018) won Killer Nashville's Claymore Award, and the Assured Destruction Series won The Creation of Stories: Best YA Award at the Toronto International Book Fair. In 2016, Michael was selected to join the CFC/Entertainment One TV Adaptation Lab. Stay tuned for more soon. Herder of four daughters, Michael lives to write in Ottawa where he was the Ottawa Public Library's Writer in Residence and runs free writing workshops. To learn more about Michael and his next projects visit his website at www.michaelfstewart.com or connect via Twitter @MichaelFStewart.

Editorial Reviews

"Stewart (The Boy Who Swallows Flies, 2018, etc.) presents readers with a dynamite coming-of-age story. Backwoods without calling anyone backward, the author's offbeat humor keeps the heavy subjects of death and poverty from becoming maudlin or bleak, as when Grandma's body has to camp out in Ray's trailer for a few days before the undertaker can get to her neck of the woods. Booby-trapped with guns, grizzly bears, and homemade fireworks, the cartoonish park setting skillfully gives wheels to a larger, more intriguing philosophical question. Salminder, a devout Sikh, asks Ray, "If it doesn't matter who you are, how rich you are, where you are or what you're doing, then why can't you find your meaning of life here in this very RV park?"

A tale spins its answer to an age-old question into an inclusive, hilarious, and thought-provoking yarn."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 2018-02-01
A teenager will inherit an RV park if he figures out the meaning of life in this YA novel.In her will, Raymond Saintbury's grandmother says he has one month to discover life's meaning or she'll give her RV park to his mother and uncle. A dazzling opening sequence describes the domino effect of Grandma's death—all the ways she didn't die before she actually did—and ends with her cryogenically frozen brain on display in the middle of her creation, Sunny Days RV Park. Dalen Anders, the celebrity self-help guru she hired to help Ray with his quest, offers him neither magic bullets nor magic beans. Ray's transformation from a video game addict to an RV park owner and operator will take old-fashioned hard work: flipping burgers, cleaning out the pool, and scrubbing bathroom floors. Meanwhile, Ray's mother and sister, who resent their treatment in the will, are hoping he fails. But Ray soon realizes that he is not the only person in the park with problems. Salminder, who runs the burger truck where Ray works, is battling cancer. Ray has been trying to win over Salminder's daughter, Tina, for ages, but now he sees that helping her cope with her father's illness is more important than trying to impress her with his gaming skills. Stewart (The Boy Who Swallows Flies, 2018, etc.) presents readers with a dynamite coming-of-age story. Backwoods without calling anyone backward, the author's offbeat humor keeps the heavy subjects of death and poverty from becoming maudlin or bleak, as when Grandma's body has to camp out in Ray's trailer for a few days before the undertaker can get to her neck of the woods. Booby-trapped with guns, grizzly bears, and homemade fireworks, the cartoonish park setting skillfully gives wheels to a larger, more intriguing philosophical question. Salminder, a devout Sikh, asks Ray, "If it doesn't matter who you are, how rich you are, where you are or what you're doing, then why can't you find your meaning of life here in this very RV park?"A tale spins its answer to an age-old question into an inclusive, hilarious, and thought-provoking yarn.

Kirkus Reviews