The Great American Whatever

by Tim Federle
Hennepin County Library hardcover 274 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, LGBTQ

I liked this better than his "Better Nate Than Ever" because it's more accessible to kids, I think. Overall, it seems to be more about grief and loss than anything else, but has loads of romance, film references, and typical coming-of-age content.

Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old boy who hasn't yet come out (though those closest to him all know it already). His beloved older sister (and film-making partner) Annabeth died in a car crash just before Christmas break and Quinn hasn't been back to school in the six months since the accident.

Best friend Geoff, Geoff's sister Carly, and Carly's friend Amir help Quinn find his way out of the grief over the course of this very well-written and engaging book. The Ricky Devlin part was a bit much, but overall this was a good read.

Caveat: swearing, alcohol, sex . . . the "usual" teen content make this more for high school than middle school.

I actually put a post-it note on a page. Just like in Silver Linings Playbook, this book refers to "Native Pittsburghers" and the dialect. He writes "If you don't know anyone from Pittsburgh, look it up on YouTube." So I had to . . .