Carter is just about to start high school. It's going to be awesome - if he can keep his ADD under control, if he can stop stuttering whenever he's around cute girls (especially when he sees boobs and belly buttons), and if he can figure out a way not to be so small and scrawny. Actually, yeah, nevermind - he's not ready for high school after all.I feel like I should name this review "Caroline Finally Gets It," because I actually started reading this book months ago. I read the first few chapters, put it aside, and somehow never managed to get back to it. Then, when I saw that it was nominated for the Cybils, I told myself, "Okay, it's time to get back to it." So I did, and I'm really glad that there was that kick, because I really, really liked this book.
I loved Carter's voice, his insights into people, his self-discovery as he moves through his first year of high school. I loved the relationship that he has with his sister, and with his sister's boyfriend. I loved his rambling, his digressions, his desire to somehow make it with the ladies despite the stuttering and the brain-scrambling boobs and butts. I'm not the type who looks back at high school and how perfect and magical it all was, but I do remember how there was a big of excitement in that first year - you weren't quite sure how it was all going to go, you weren't quite sure who you were going to be. This book captures that feeling in a wonderfully knowledgeable way.
Find it on Amazon.
Read it with:
Swim the Fly by Don Calame
The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos
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