Author: David Lubar
Book Review Written by: Kristopher H.
Book review: This story follows in the first-person view of a new highschooler, Scott Hudson. It goes through the awkwardness and the grasp for independence that every teen goes through. I think this book is very well written, especially the way the author slowly developed Scott's character throughout the story. Scott goes from being a people pleaser and being judgmental about who he's friends with to slowly accepting the fact that it's a blessing to have those friendships. Around the beginning of the book, Scott believes his middle school friend group would stay together and be pals forever. However, since everyone is changing at this age, it was natural that they all went their separate ways. Scott sees all his friends find their own paths while he's being left on the backburner. 
The turning point in this story is when Scott's last friend, Kyle ends up leaving him for a new group of friends. Scott is at his lowest and starts trying out new activities and talking to new people whom he deemed to be weird before. One of them happens to be a girl named Lee. On the outside, Lee sticks out like a sore thumb compared to other girls. She has green hair and has sort of a punk rocker style with pins on her face and obnoxious saying on her shirt. Despite all of this, Scott and Lee form a bond over their love for reading cleverly written quotes and dialogue, Scott doesn't realize it until around the end,
but he really cares for Lee. Even though she might have some strange quirks, she's still his friend and that means something to him.
He also has a few other friends with weird quirks like "Mouth", whom people criticize and judge for talking too much and being annoying. In this case, Scott also never fully acknowledges and realizes that they're friends until the end of the story. Another prominent character throughout this story is Wesley, a guy who is known for being tough and unbearable but is really a genuine person on the inside. Scott synergizes with all these kids who are considered very different and have unique personality traits that are seen as weird by others.
I really like how this book is written showing the main character's insecurities and awkwardness. At times, Scott questions what is manly and a good look on him and asks people in his life for advice like his brother and his dad. He has interest in this girl and tries to slyly find ways to talk to her such as joining school newspaper team, joining student council, and even theater.
Ironically, every time he joins one of those, she happened to not get in. This forces him to stay with his choice of joining even though he won't be able to sneak in interactions with her. He slowly but surely develops his connections and interests from there. He goes from being a shy and awkward teen following the norms of society and toxic masculinity to actually being comfortable in his own skin and being compassionate and caring towards the people he surrounds himself with.
What's also unique about this story is that there isn't only one antagonist. Although one of them is Scott's bully, there is also other antagonist sources such as Scott himself. He fights against his internal thoughts and his own self-consciousness. If you want a main character who isn't annoying and is actually realistic and down to earth, this book is a good read. Overall, I would give this book a solid 4 stars out of 5.
