King Dork is a book that my boss recommended, he said it was the best YA novel he’d ever read. I agree that it’s funny, original, and pretty entertaining. It suffers a little from Juno syndrome; Tom Henderson, the main character, is almost unbelievably smart and witty for a fourteen-year-old. But I do remember kids in high school who had an encyclopedic memory for pop culture (I was one of them, long long ago), and that kept Tom from being too unreal for me. However, if you don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of modern music history (like me), you’ll just have to roll with the references and trust that they’re funny and relevant. Or, you can look them up! As a librarian, that’s what I should tell you to do.
Tag: teens
I couldn’t get enough of this book, I read it a few months ago in one sitting. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things is the story of overweight Virginia Shreves, a Manhattan 10th grader in a perfect looking family who urge her to lose weight so she can be pretty. When her older brother does something deeply despicable, she starts to understand how imperfect her family is. She becomes empowered, stops apologizing for her size, starts getting strong, and just becomes awesome. I was cheering for her at the end, and I think this is a must read book for teenage girls. I can’t say enough good things about it, one of the best YA books I’ve read. I’m only sorry it took me this long to read it.
Read more on The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler…
This book creeped me out. It was riveting, and the first person narration was perfect for this story. Teenage Claudine wakes one morning to find her alcoholic mother has disappeared…again. Claudine tells everyone her mother finally checked herself into rehab, and over time she convinces herself until a really freaky ending reveals everything. Claudine’s struggle to keep her life together while living alone in her mother’s trailer is destroying her. She is slowly drowning in her attempts to keep everything clean and perfect until her mother returns. Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready is a fantastic read.