Scott Hudson and his 3 best friends are about to start high school... YIKES!! Scott has no clue what he's in for when the first day starts. He soon learns that his friends are all in tech-prep while he's in honors classes. He also finds out fairly quickly that upperclassmen are to be avoided, unless you want a smack in the head or relieved of your extra change. This book follows Scott as he navigates his freshman year of high school including: his mom's pregnancy announcement, his friends from middle-school drifting, his older brother Bobby seeming lost, his crush on Julia which prompts him to join too many school activities, gym class from HELL, and a few new unexpected friends....

I enjoyed this book way too much!! I say that because about halfway through I was laughing to myself and I realized that I was relating to this nerdy 15-year-old boy way more than I should. And is he ever a 15-year-old boy! The author totally captured the voice of a young male. Sometimes I would be all into it, and then he would say something completely gross and immature and I couldn't help but smile.


As Scott's life becomes more complicated, so does the choices he has to make. First his mom is going to be having a baby, his friendships from middle-school seem to be falling apart left and right, none of his after-school activities turns out as planned, and his crush on Julia just gets him in deeper and deeper. Then there is a suicide attempt by somebody in his life and it sort of puts things into perspective for Scott.


One of my favorite parts of the book is that since Scott finds out that his mom is having a baby right at the start of his school year, he starts writing "survival" tips for his younger sibling to follow when he/she gets there. It was really cute and even though he was trying to be a tough guy in most of the letters, he really wasn't really anything close to that. He calls the unborn baby all kinds of horrible names and tells it that all it's going to do is drool and puke on everything. But then he give it life lessons on girls, friendship, and high school, and tells it he's always going to be there for him/her. It was really gimmicky, but it worked.


I was really into the relationship that Scott had with his English teacher. Scott was a reader and a writer and sort of an oddball, so for him to have a mentor like that was extremely important. And I also think it's important for kids to see that these relationships exist. Not all teachers suck (just a few).

I was definitely reminded of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and was totally picturing the kid who played Fregley in the movie as Mouth.

Quotes I liked:
"See Scott run. Run, Scott, run. See Scott die. No such luck..."

"Meet the Hudson kids- one had split, one hadn't arrived, and the other didn't have a clue about where he was going."


I even think I learned some stuff too... like I don't think I was ever introduced to Tom Swifties before, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to come up with as many clever one's as Scott did:

"The first quarter is over and we haven't scored", the crowd said pointlessly.

"I've been sliced in half", Tom said intuitively.




Overall: It was a realistic male POV of a high school experience. Definitely recommend to anyone who likes funny middle-grade type books. And for boys especially. This book shows boys that it's okay to like to read. It's cool to be smart sometimes :)

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I laughed, I cried, I thought deeply about the deep-rooted racial injustice that our permeates our culture. Mostly, I love the book. Each moment feels real, and you experience it right along with Starr. It gives those of us who might not understand exactly what it feels like to be a black person in the United States a small glance at some of the emotions and experiences.If you know anything about how the US has handled police shootings in the past few years, you know how this book ends. And honestly, it's disheartening, especially when you consider that this is far from the last time a black person will be killed at the hands of the police because they're black. The end is sad, but the ending is so hopeful, and it's just what we need right now. ( )

3.5 stars

That was rather sweet. A bit tidy, but not all YA novels need to be horrifying and wrenching.
The story takes us through the main character's freshman year of high school. He's smart but not incredibly popular, has a crush on a girl he's too afraid to talk to, and is finding that his group of childhood buddies is growing apart (that's OK-most of them are dummies. And that Kyle? What a tool). Mostly, his experiences are the normal growing pains of a person starting high school.
The story is written in the first person, and since Scott's favorite class is English, we are treated to a variety of writing styles and vocabulary words as he's learning them. I thought this was fun, and it made the book stand out more than it otherwise would have. The journal entries/letters to his unborn brother were also a nice touch.
Early on, I called the friendship he would develop with Wesley, but that was still one of my favorite aspects of the book.
As far as the incredible amount of self-awareness and the life lessons Scott managed to learn by the end of his freshman year-maybe that was a stretch, as was his being able to translate for his Dad after an exaggeratedly bad run of Spanish teachers.
Besides a few other quibbles, I liked this character and his story, and this is one I will probably recommend at the library. ( )

This book might not have been geared toward me (older teenage female), but I loved it.

Scott is just beginning high school, complete with all its pitfalls, scary upperclassmen, pretty girls, loyal and not-so-loyal friends, homework, weird teachers, and everything else. And on top of all that, his parents are expecting another baby.

David Lubar's narration (through Scott) is witty, wise, and spot-on without being stereotypical. Scott's various problems and discoveries about the beautiful Julia, terrifying junior Wes, obnoxious Mouth, and philosophical Goth girl Lee are touching, hilarious, and eye-opening.

In the form of a diary to his little brother, not yet even born, Scott figures out how to handle the first year of high school...and a lot more. ( )

It's a book that starts off very slowly and then before you know it you're finished with the book and nothing is really memorable, except maybe for his friend whose father owns a vehicle sales company. ( )