I liked it. Although the main character, Carson, kind of annoyed me but I can see myself in him at parts.But I had so much respect for him because with all the bad things in his life he never got depressed. He stayed strong and fights. This book is about a smart boy who has a passion for writing, dreaming of getting the hell out of his small hometown Clover. His dream is to go to Northwestern in Chicago to become a big famous writer in the New Yorker. This has been his dream since he was asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? And ever since he was laughed at for it. At school no one really likes him, he has only one real friend who's a bit odd. He didn't care though, because he knew he was leaving Clover. Until he got a letter from Northwestern saying that being president of the Writing Club and Teacher of Journalism wouldn't be enough to get it. He had to make a magazine that had written work by his classmates, to show that he can inspire people to write. The thing is, everyone hated him so no one would do it, and he knew that. So he blackmails the most popular kids at school and the football coach, who graduated last year. He finds the most dirty and scary secrets you can imagine. One being a kid from Florida pretending to be a foreign exchange student from Mexico and having sex with a lot of women and girls at school. There is to much drama for this small school. But aside from dealing with the BS at school he also had to deal with his drunk mom at home. His dad left his family when he was young and ever since then his mom has been glued to the couch drunk or hungover. His dad later comes back and invites him to dinner to meet his new fiance. Dinner went awful though. Also, Carson has a grandmother he always visit. Although she may never remember Carson, he still goes over to visit. Towards the end, Carson started to see the people who had made his life suck like normal people with their own problem. In the end I can't tell you how messed up it was. The ending pissed me off and broke my heart a bit. I wont spoil the ending but there are a few thing i learned from this book. 1.)Life sucks and it's not easy. 2)People can really be messed up. 3)When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. And 4) You are never alone.
So Yes i recommend it, maybe you'll get something out of it. You might not like it and I wouldn't blame you but its a easy read and it keeps you reading.