Thursday, May 26, 2016

Maybe with a Chance of Certainty

What does the brilliant high school nerd have in common with the Letterman jock? Surprise, they're both gay and they both have an alcoholic parent. Tough to think who has the bigger problem here.

Without throwing hip language at one or resorting to profanity and bad grammar the author manages to perfectly evoke the insecurities and tensions of those high school corridors. Behind that confident exterior the high school jock and the prom queen have the same raging hormones and insecurities everyone else shares, they just have more to lose.

The story is told from the point of view of the nerd. Girls have long been portrayed as besotted and struck dumb in the presence of the object of their overwhelming affection. Here we learn that boys can experience similar emotional paralysis.

Near the end of this book Kyle lays it on the line for his high school prinicpal:

 



















The teacher is struck dumb.

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