I haven’t laughed out loud when reading a book in a long time – last time was Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. This time the laughs sprang from the smart, funny, wise-cracking voice of Scott Hudson, the main character in David Lubar’s Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie.
Scott tries to tell himself a lie “nothing’s going to change” a whole lot in this book. But, starting high school, losing and gaining friends, figuring out who he is and what is important to him, as well as coming to terms with the fact that his mom is pregnant, eventually bring him to the realization that “flux rox.” To cope with the massive amounts of change in his life, he decides that a survival manual would be helpful, so he writes one for his forthcoming sibling.
Scott is genuinely funny, earnest and hapless. This is a solidly enjoyable book that is sprinkled with humor, puzzles, sadness, and many, many moments of “ugh – I remember feeling that way”. After lots of laughs and a fair amount of growing pains, Scott’s freshman year, and the book, come to a satisfying end for him and us.
- Posted by Cori