Memory Monday - Face by Benjamin Zephaniah

The first time I heard about Face was when Benjamin Zephaniah visited my school. The author himself was crazy, witty, and pretty funny, so I decided I wanted to read ALL of his books. They only had one in the library, but I was very glad it was this one, because Face is such a good book.

Here's the summary from Goodreads:

Martin is a good-looking, self-assured boy who accepts a ride home from a drunken acquaintance and ends up in a horrible accident--badly burned, his face completely disfigured. Life as it was before is over...he loses his girlfriend and his friends, and finds that people are making judgements about him and how he feels without even knowing. As Martin struggles through the reconstruction of his face, he is also working hard to reconstruct his life. His character, however, remains intact. There are startling truths in this story, written with clarity and insight, which make it utterly believable and impossible to read without heartfelt empathy. Parents, librarians, teachers and mostly children will be absorbed by the story.
(Face was published 2002)

Don't let that summary make you think that this book is a boring, moral-filled story about NOT GETTING INTO STOLEN CARS, PEOPLE (although that's probably not a good idea). Face is a true coming of age story about the boy everyone knows - clever, witty, sporty, and popular - and about how much of that is superficial.

To my US blog readers - This is a British book, but it's on Amazon.com too, so don't let that put you off.

And best of all, this is a BOY'S YA - a rarity, it seems.

Has anyone read Face? And who thinks there needs to be more boy's POV books in young adult fiction?