In a nutshell: comic capers deliver sensitive story of grief and recovery
Arnold is unlike anyone Leon has ever met before. He’s honest to the point of rudeness, takes everything said completely literally, yet still has a way of identifying what’s really important to people. The two become friends and – unknown to his family – Leon moves Arnold in while his foster parents are away. It doesn’t take long for Arnold to realise that the family, grieving the death of Leon’s twin Lenny, desperately need to start talking again. Amongst madcap adventures, including an inadvertent robbery attempt on a bank, comes real understanding and a sense of healing. Rob Stevens manages to tell a story of heartbreak with humour and sensitivity and readers will be left feeling genuinely uplifted for knowing Leon and Arnold. ~Andrea Reece
Leon's twin, Lenny, had the best imagination in the world. He could do a back flip from a standing start and tell rude jokes nonstop for hours. But a year ago Lenny died, and Leon's family hasn't been the same since. When a new boy, Arnold, starts at Leon's school, he has no idea what to think: Arnold doesn't understand jokes, sarcasm is lost on him and he can be completely blunt. Leon has never met anyone like Arnold before, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Before long things start to get seriously bonkers, and the two boys are breaking windows, accidentally holding up a bank and getting arrested after a disagreement with a baguette. But amidst all this madness, can Awkward Arnold actually help Leon to sort his life out?
Rob Stevens combines being an author with a job as a British Airways Captain, doing much of his writing in hotels around the world. He grew up in Bournemouth and studied Engineering at Cambridge University before training to be a pilot.
He lives on the Dorset coast with his wife and two young sons.
