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STUPID FAST by Geoff Herbach



copyright date: June 2011
primarily marketed for: (young adults, 8th grade and up)

This is what I call a “smart guy-book".  When you guys are ready to move away from fantasy into realistic fiction about teenage guy issues, Stupid Fast is one of the books you will have to turn to.  This is a book for you guys who read Invisible and Godless by Pete Hautman, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Shift by Jennifer Bradbury, Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman, anything by Chris Crutcher or John Green, and especially About a Boy by Nick Hornby.

Stupid Fast is the story of Felton Reinstein.  He is a Jewish teenager who was fiver years old when he discovered his father had hung himself in the garage.  That was the beginning of a lot of years of instability for Felton and his family. 

Now that he is a teenager, Felton is struggling to grow up, take care of his younger brother, reach his newfound athletic (not to mention social) potential, and escape the disaster his mother is becoming. 

It is important to know that this is not going to be the sports book it advertises itself as (based on the cover).  It has much more depth than that.  Felton is dealing with major family issues and uncovering long buried family secrets in the midst of fostering a budding romance and maintaining a long distance friendship with his best pal over the summer. 

His voice is filled with humor, sarcasm, and the language you would expect from a frustrated, angst-ridden, teenage boy.  The unusual cadence and writing style had me laughing out loud at some points, then wondering where the story was headed at others, then laughing out loud again before I could put the book down.

This is a book that takes some reading stamina to get through, but what a gift this story is if you stick with it!
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Comments

  1. Linda BFebruary 21, 2012 at 8:56 PM

    You've read some great books lately, Christy. This is already on my list like the previous too, but I didn't know that much about it. It sounds like a good book for a number of young students I know. Thanks as always.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 28, 2012 at 9:09 AM

    When I first started reading Stupid Fast I thought this is a guys book but in the end I loved Felton so much that female readers will also love it! I think Geoff is a great writer and I love the journey he takes the reader on!

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