Adults Only

by Morris Gleitzman

The kitchen was a mess. Packets and jars had been flung around. Half the stuff in the fridge was on the floor. There was a trail of flour running along the passage. For a second Jake thought one of the magazine people must have had an urge to make a cake and decided to do it in their room. Or was someone else in the house? Jake's an only kid. He's the only kid in his family. He's the only kid on his island. Or that's what he thinks...

Genres: Childrens

Paperback

First published July 2, 2001

About the author

Morris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.

Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.

Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.

He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.

But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.

All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.

Reviews

[Sarah Scowen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this to see the suitability for my nieces and nephews but found it was too childish for those over the age 8 and too inappropriate for those aged 8 and under. Not sure what age this book is suitable for. Not for my family anyway.

[Brooke Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book as a teenager and still love it today

[Mega Charlie Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the sex scene to be totally inappropriate for a children's book.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a bit odd. Feels like more time was needed to make this well rounded.

[Emma Janlar · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is hands down the worst book I've ever read to a point where I grew impatient, frustrated, and bored. I thought it was one of those books that starts off progressively slow but it never fails to interest me. The activities the character did were repetitive, mind-numbing, and exhausting and anything eventful was few and far between, when the plot finally does thicken, you're so bored that the excitement or motivation to read the book isn't there anymore and you're just looking to finish it ASAP! If you want to read a forgettable book where a lonely bore wanders and plays with sand on a remote island on a regular basis and you're challenging yourself to persevere to the finish, be sure to buy it.

[Ngaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake lives on an island with his parents who run an Adult-only resort. He is the only child there and lives a lonely existance hiding from guests with a teddy as his only friend. This is such a multilayered book, dealing with complex family issues, the history of the island, money and business issues, all through the light hearted viewpoint of a young boy. Morris Gleitzman has a gift for talking about very 'dark' themes in an easy to understand way for children, it is great that he doesn't shy away from these issues but instead finds a way to communicate them to children in an informative and gentle way. I read a lot of his books as a child and again as an adult and they still resonate with me today.

[Suzie Bookgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake lives with his parents on an island at an 'Adults Only' resort. He is the only kid on the island and he has to hide from the adults most of the time so life is all a bit grim. Lucky he has his teddy Crusher to keep him company. Jake is not great at following instructions so all sorts of funny things happen to him and crusher.

This was a fun read with some sad moments. I quite liked Jake as a character, he was quirky and you never quite knew what he would do next. The story-line held my interest right to the twist at the end. Good stuff.

[D.peabody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake lives with his parents on an island at an 'Adults Only' resort. He is the only kid on the island and he has to hide from the adults most of the time so life is all a bit grim. Lucky he has his teddy Crusher to keep him company. Jake is not great at following instructions so all sorts of funny things happen to him and crusher.

This was a fun read with some sad moments. I quite liked Jake as a character, he was quirky and you never quite knew what he would do next. The story-line held my interest right to the twist at the end. Good stuff.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jake lives with his parents in a holiday hideaway hotel - the hotel's main attraction is that it is a "kid-free" zone. When a couple from a magazine arrive to do a feature on the hotel, Jake must keep out of the way to ensure they have a great kid-free time. But things don't go according to plan. I have enjoyed so many of Morris Gleitzman's books but struggled a bit with this one. While it had its funny moments, I didn't like the quite random inclusion of ghosts.

[Devon]

Can't wait to read it

[XXK · Rating 1 out of 5]

I borrowed the book and then I lost it. I had to get a fine. :( Happens to me all the time!

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this out loud in class to my Year 8 kids. They mostly liked it - and even asked me sometimes if I would read to them hile they were working!

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, great for kids. Although it creeped me out a bit! Weird twist at the end.

[Alice Doherty]

Read this ages ago.

[Melissa Burtt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another audio book that we listened to on the way to and from school - Funny book.

[Nicola Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet and poignant tale about a lonely boy. Although enjoyable it left me feeling somewhat sad.

[Ifa Mujawar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. So cute.

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

A spot of junior fiction for a change.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

879 - 2016

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nightly read with Ivy.