What if someone told you he was on a mission from God and you had to help him? What if someone was the star quarterback and part-time bully at your high school, a guy who routinely calls you Neanderthal? That’s exactly what happens to 16-year-old Cliff Hubbard, and author Preston Norton takes this unlikely premise, loads it with even more unlikely events, and makes it work in this funny and sweetly oddball* book. Cliff, who is huge — 113 kilograms and 198 centimeters tall — has been angry since his brother committed suicide. But when the quarterback, named Aaron, returns from a near-death experience with a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High School happier — which includes getting rid of bullies like him, drug dealers, and the sanctimonious Christian students who think they’re better than everyone else — Cliff signs on. Their utter cluelessness notwithstanding, the two make inroads* on the list, improving not just their high school but themselves, and even finding love along the way. At the story’s core is an unsentimental treatment of a bullied kid and his one-time bully discovering their commonalities. That Norton accomplishes this without moralizing and in inventively rhythmic and pop-culture-saturated language only adds to the fun. (SD-Agencies) |