This is an interesting coming of age story that is a quick read. In this book, two teenagers begin by playing a prank on an older gentleman who turns out to be a widower. However, this prank turns into an interesting if odd friendship between the two teens and the man. It is quite apparent that they are using the friendship to their own ends. All of this leads to the literary inevitable teen mistake of taking full advantage of someone's kindness and trust. The teens end up learning some hard truths about using people. Admittedly, it may be a somewhat dated story in that the actions of the teens seem relatively tame by today's standards; however, there is still value in this story. ( )

A Relevant Book for All Young Adults ?

I had never read this book myself but chose it for my student on the recommendation of a colleague who teaches middle school Language Arts.
It made both of us laugh out loud because of the colloquial writing and societal observations made.
Unfortunately, although I loved it, my student only gave it 2 out of 4 stars. He felt the story was outdated. ( )

I read this for Banned Book Week not knowing what to expect and whoa man did I love love love it. It's like Catcher in the Rye only with a girl and less self-obsessed (go figure). It's been challenged because the kids in it drink and smoke and hate school and have awful parents and swear (although the swearing is mostly like "@#$%"). ( )

I liked this YA novel but can’t remember the details. It's about tolerance for an odd man, I think. ( )

Read it many years ago and liked it although not nearly as much as My Darling, My hamburger.

It is still a great book though, just really REALLY depressing.

Still Paul Zindel wrote in such a magnificent way and got into his characters heads so magnificently that I have to give credit w here credit's due.

Even if this was not one of my favorites, it is a superb book. ( )