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Request this book in the Library Catalog Teens - Write Your Own Wild Reviews!

October 2009

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl
by Barry Lyga

The IM says "Why do you let him hit you? Check your email.".

The JPEG is a crappy lo-res image, slightly blurry and small, but unmistakable. It's me in gym class, my face frozen in an expression of surprise and pain as Mitchell Frampton's fist slams into my shoulder. The extreme foreground is a blur of bodies playing dodge ball.

I stare at it for long seconds. The angle . . . No one playing dodge ball could take a picture. And the angle . . . It's so wrong. It's just off somehow. I don't-

And I think of a black blur with a white blur stuck in it, a face like a thumb dipped in white paint.

I bring up the instant message program and pound out a message to Promethea387: Who are you . . . and why do you sit in the bleachers during gym?

Fanboy, aka "Donnie", is deep in his world of comic books and fantasy. He yearns for the day when high school ends and when he can finally go off to college to pursue his dreams of becoming a comic book artist and writer. Each day is a painful reminder of his nerd status: gym torture, teasing, etc.

Then Kyra shows up and teaches him how to stand up for himself. Kyra, who is first real friend in years has secrets of her own, however. Her problems soon eclipse his own and he must make a decision that will change everything.

This synopsis was written by a San José Public Library librarian.

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