Fanboy is a skinny, nerdy kid who gets beaten up on a regular basis at school by the popular jocks while members of the opposite sex don't even realize he exists (something he wishes the jocks would catch on to). He carries a bullet around in his pocket, something akin to a safety blanket, and keeps a certain 'List' of people in the back of his mind. You think you know where this is all headed - it is set in America, after all - especially when he meets the similarly bitter and angry Goth Girl, who has a disturbing interest in his step-father's gun collection. But that's where The Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl takes a sharp U-turn, avoiding the easy and well-trodden way out - blazing guns and school hallways littered with dead kids. Fanboy isn't just a nerd. He's smart. He's talented. In between being humiliated at gym class and getting his face slammed into school lockers, Fanboy's is pouring his heart and soul into writing a graphic novel, one he hopes to get published, and one he hopes will be a way out his miserable life and the key to his fame and fortune. Lyga's odd hero gives an interesting voice to the thousands of faceless kids that file through schools around the world each year who manage to live in the face of intense harrasment and bullying, without thought of retaliation - other than showing their classmates up at the school reunion. The ending may be a little optimistic for some, but stranger things have happened... (You find out what his real name is once but I can't seem to find the page again - it's something like Cecil - no wonder he prefers Fanboy.)You may also like:
The earth, my butt and other big round things by Carolyn Mackler
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