Format: Book
Tyler Miller is a nerd. A senior in high school, Tyler is the guy no one notices. He's invisible. With only one real friend, Yoda (whose religion is Star Wars), Tyler is lost. Wanting attention, Tyler did a prank - spray-painted some graffiti and became a legend. Sentenced to physical labor and on probation, Tyler is struggling with life. He has a major crush on one of the untouchable girls in his class, an explosive father, drunken mother. He's being buried in schoolwork - with a semester full of calculus and 3 AP classes. And then, he's implicated in a drunken crime and his precarious balance on life starts to fall apart.
The description on the front flap of this book is simple: "Everybody told me to be a man. Nobody told me how." That truly is what this novel is all about. Tyler is on the brink of manhood, but he doesn't know how to step forward and grab hold of his life to make it what he wants. He's alienated. He's betrayed by someone he thought he could trust - a girl he thought liked him back. Because of one stupid prank, he's thrust into the spotlight and implicated in a crime that he knows he didn't commit, but very few people believe him. This story is honest. It's a brutal examination of what a typical suburban teenage male may go through. And though this novel is very real and can be disturbing, it's also a book of hope. Will Tyler's inner demons eventually win? With the help of his best friend, his sister, his English teacher and the high school janitorial crew he realizes that there are people who do care and understand him.
This novel is definitely not for children. But it is definitely a must read for high school and over.
Reviewed by Sara.
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