GREAT READS

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

by Barry Lyga.

Meet Fanboy. He's a smaller than average 15-year-old boy who hates just about everyone and everything except for comics and his best and only friend, Cal. His superior intellect seems to distance him even more from the student body at his high school, which is full of jocks and girls that are way out of his league. His home life stinks. He is bullied by virtually everyone and he keeps track by way of "the list". Not that he is stupid enough to actually carry out the destruction of those on the list...he just likes to think about it...often...as well as carry around a bullet in his pocket as a totem to touch when things feel out of control.

Enter Kyra, aka Goth Girl. She nicknamed him Fanboy, but he's never really sure where he stands with her. Is she his friend? Does she want to be his girlfriend? She's nothing like the senior girl he fantasizes about, but she is memorable in just about every way. She soon knows about his secret bullet and about the graphic novel he's been slaving over for years, neither of which Cal knows about. She is brash and possibly brave or maybe just nuts. He simply can't decide, but when he thinks he may lose Cal to the jocks, she may be all he has left.

Recommended by Cheryl Finnan