Spud

Spud is a 2005 novel by South African author, actor, playwright and producer, John van de Ruit. A comedic sometimes sad yet straight forward novel that captures the humor of life in boarding school, through the diary of John 'Spud' Milton. The book is written in the style of a diary. The story begins on the morning of Spud's first day at a private boarding school, following his year and experiences with the often eccentric characters found in the school environment. The diary also follows Spud's family life. A sequel, titled Spud: The Madness Continues, was released in mid-2007. It details Spud's second year of boarding school and trip to England paid by Wombat, his crazy grandmother. In June 2009, the third book in the Spud series was released. Titled Spud: Learning to Fly. This book details Spud's third year at a school based on Michaelhouse, where he is now back at school and Pike returns for Post-Matric years and is a prefect. Pike being made a prefect means the Crazy Eight are vulnerable and cannot do anything without getting in trouble. The fourth and final book in the series, detailing Spud's Matric year, was released August 2012, under the title "Spud: Exit, Pursued by a Bear."After commercial success in South Africa (it won the 2006 Booksellers award), the United States saw a release of this book 2007. It is now available in North America.