Max Caldwell's life seems to be on the right track in a big way: poised to be editor of the school paper, applying to elite colleges, straight A student, pretty sophomore girlfriend. But something's not right in an undefinable way that makes Max kick the tires of his own life, not yet aware that perhaps there are consequences to that sort of thing.
The long version:
Blake Nelson is such a readable author. And I mean that in the best of ways. This is my third Blake Nelson read and I love his pace, his characters, his acerbic sensibilities. He entertains with his ear for detail and ability to put those details together to create pictures in a story. This is a classic boy book in the best of ways where boys talk and act like boys and not YA author teen fantasies of what they wish boys were when they were teenagers.
The book was pretty lo-fi in the plot department. It did an excellent job of describing the minutia of high school as seen through Max's eyes with the benefit of Nelson's fabulous writing, where all those small interactions and moments are fraught with meaning and importance. The story chock full of truly laugh out loud moments.
But man did the plot, lo-fi as it was, part of the story get going late and end a tad abruptly. As someone who likes to plow through books, I'm usually one to say when a book is too long but in this case I thought the story deserved more. I needed the repercussions of Max's response to a life that was pre-determined and highly controlled by his parents to play out more rather than come to what I felt was a bit of a stunted, not fully realized conclusion.
It also had the feeling of a novel written in 2003 with good reason. I'm not even sure they still make Certs breath mints, but there is not likely to be a new White Stripes album in the near future, which is the trouble you sometimes get in to when you insert current pop culture references into your story. Makes it sound authentic, which I'm sure it did ten years ago, but it also becomes plain that this was a story written at the dawn of the cell phone age, pre-texting. Not that I minded, but I'm not convinced I could sell the book to the youngsters today.
Did I already say how much I love Blake Nelson's writing?
Other Young Adult Boy Books I Adored:
Noggin and Where Things Come Back, John Corey Whaley
The Prince of Venice Beach, Blake Nelson
When I Was The Greatest, Jason Reynolds
Crash and Burn, Michael Hassan
It's Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
Paper Towns, John Green
King Dork, Frank Portman
Crossing Lines, Paul Volponi
Grasshopper Jungle and Winger, Andrew Smith
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