I didn't enjoy this very much because one of the main plot points was completely unbelievable, while the rest of it was realistic. Basically, it's about a 12-year-old overweight boy who has to deal with bullies every day at school. At the same time, he's working on an invention to deal with a separate sadness in his life.

The are several interesting plot twists in the story, but they all came fast in the end. Potter's style is to introduce intriguing details and then wait a few chapters to explain them. For example, I was interested in the main character's sister, named Jeremy. Potter later reveals that her real name is Caitlin, but she changed it when she joined a group at school called GWAB, which we learn later stands for Girls Who Are Boys.

So this book's main selling point is that nothing in the story is what it seems. Even the title, which seems to be about Owen's weight problem, is really about something completely different. ( )

Not bad. Didn't grab me the way I usually like, but I'm definitely recommending it to my nieces and nephews--I especially like the theme of "letting go." Too many people lack that skill. ( )

Owen Birnbaum is a kid with a story, but all most of his classmates know about him is that he’s fat. His weight combined with his way-above-average intelligence makes him a target for bullies; in fact, even his P.E. coach looks for opportunities to humiliate him in front of his peers. Owen’s refuge is his home, where his mom and sister love him no matter what, where his neighbor Nima is a true friend, and where he can hole up in his room for hours at a time to work on his massive electronic project called Nemesis.

Owen is convinced that if he gets Nemesis to work, it will show him exactly what he needs to know to fix his life. But a small mystery (missing Oreos) blows up into a complicated and unexpected turn of events, leading Owen to consider ideas he hasn’t thought about before, both about himself and about the people close to him.

The reader has another question to solve as well – what in the world has happened to Owen in his past? Clues surface a little bit at a time so that the story reads like a good mystery.

Grown-up portion of review:

Didn't include this on the official library review, but one of the characters in the book can be interpreted in a couple different but important ways. Owen's sister Caitlin goes by Jeremy, dresses like a boy, and is a member of a club called GWAB - Girls Who Are Boys. In other reviews, this has been described as a group of "tomboys;" and certainly little girls who prefer clothes and activities traditionally associated with boys could stand to see themselves represented a little more often and more positively in books. But another interpretation, and I don't think I'm reaching here, is that the GWAB members are transgendered. The writing is ambiguous about the specifics, which I think is a positive thing. Girls of all stripes will see themselves in this story, accepted and courageous and expanding the definition of normal. ( )

Realistic fiction, lonestar 2010

******** SPOILERS CONTAINED WITHIN *********
Twelve year old Owen says he is the fattest kid in school. He has apparently gained all this weight in the past 2 years. His sister, 11-year-old Jeremy (real name Caitlin), has joined gwab (girls who are boys). The book hints at the father's death but 2/3 the way through drops the bombshell that both parents were killed in a shooting. The woman who Owen calls Mom (and who has indeed adopted the siblings) is really the 911 operator he spoke to when he called after hearing the shots. Owen is quite brilliant and is working on a device to replay the shooting so he can identify his parents shooter. All this sounds quite tragic but it does not read that way. Initially, the story arc revolves around Owen trying to find the person stealing his oreo cookies. He jumps to some wrong conclusions and learns a thing or two about himself. ( )