King Dork by Frank Portman. I'm in sunburn recovery, so I'm just gonna put all of my thoughts on the table.
The downs: I have a hard time with being a spoilsport, but...please, can someone someday write guy-funny and make at least one female character slightly less vapid? I get that everyone in the story is caricature, but at this point it's tired. Or if that's too much to ask: I would even settle for a homely nerd, male or female, just flat out not scoring. If ever I take up the YA mantle, this will definitely be one of my crusades. Not because I'm an enemy of plo chops...but because I'm an occasional believer in reality challenges.
The ups: The satire stops JUST short of clobber, which is a good place. Some parts made me laugh out loud, which is extremely rare for me. Most of the contempt was in places I could really appreciate. I liked the ending a lot. I read the book in one shot because I couldn't put it down. I have and will recommend it to other people.
Latent Workshopping Afterthought: The high school directory/deus ex machina bothered me. It seemed like something that (1) someone in the review process would have noticed and (2) was relatively easy to fix once it WAS pointed out.
Still on the fence, may need a reread: King Dork vs. Home Land. I have a feeling that comparisons make sense at a basic level, but not beyond that.
You must read John Green's work, both Looking for Alaska and the new one An Abundance of Katherine. They completely capture guy funny and have whip-smart girl characters to boot. In fact, I just love them because all the characters are so damn smart, but not unbelievably so.
Posted by: Gwenda | July 30, 2006 at 11:29 AM
For sure, for sure. I second Gwenda's recommendation.
Posted by: Leila | July 31, 2006 at 07:12 PM