By David Lubar
2007 – Penguin Group (USA)
This is such a fun book. It follows the life of Scott Hudson as he navigates his freshmen year of high school. His mother announces that she’s pregnant, and parts of the book are journal (not diary, he ensures us) entries sharing his wisdom and life lessons with his future brother or sister.
I really enjoyed the originality of the book. Scott is an intelligent book-worm in a working class family. If he were to go to college, he would be the first in his family. The norm for these YA books are teens in families where both parents are college educated and one or more work in a professional type job (lawyer, banker, etc.). Scott’s mom is a homemaker and his dad is a mechanic. It’s a very real family that provides a good stable base for Scott as he tries to figure out who he is.
Scott is a fun kid. There were moments when he was so vulnerable I wanted to give him a big hug. And there were moments he struggled to find the courage to do the right thing, and when he did, I wanted to give him an even bigger hug. The story doesn’t shy away from tough issues like suicide and undiagnosed learning disabilities, but it doesn’t get mired down in them either.
I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of the book (which was a little rough since I read ½ of it in an airport), and I think anyone who experienced high school would enjoy this story.
2007 – Penguin Group (USA)
This is such a fun book. It follows the life of Scott Hudson as he navigates his freshmen year of high school. His mother announces that she’s pregnant, and parts of the book are journal (not diary, he ensures us) entries sharing his wisdom and life lessons with his future brother or sister.
I really enjoyed the originality of the book. Scott is an intelligent book-worm in a working class family. If he were to go to college, he would be the first in his family. The norm for these YA books are teens in families where both parents are college educated and one or more work in a professional type job (lawyer, banker, etc.). Scott’s mom is a homemaker and his dad is a mechanic. It’s a very real family that provides a good stable base for Scott as he tries to figure out who he is.
Scott is a fun kid. There were moments when he was so vulnerable I wanted to give him a big hug. And there were moments he struggled to find the courage to do the right thing, and when he did, I wanted to give him an even bigger hug. The story doesn’t shy away from tough issues like suicide and undiagnosed learning disabilities, but it doesn’t get mired down in them either.
I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of the book (which was a little rough since I read ½ of it in an airport), and I think anyone who experienced high school would enjoy this story.
1 comment:
i read this one last year after hearing my then 15-year-old daughter laugh out loud at it the year before. i really loved it! nice review!
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