Ho-hum

How to Get Suspended and Influence People tries very hard to be edgy and important and witty. Sometimes it succeeds in being witty, but it is never edgy or important, unless one thinks that eighth graders swears is edgy. Personally, in my experience, it is rather ordinary. Same with eighth graders talking about sex. If that was supposed to be "eye-opening" or provacative, well, um...no, not really, its just part of life.

I know this was a first book for the author, and I do think it had promise, I just think he was trying to hard to be cool, like youth ministers and librarians, that kind of thing. I will read something else by him though and see if he has matured at all as a writer.

This book was very similar to Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas in its attempt to introduce avant-garde concepts and art, except that Rats is a much better book and comes across as more authentic in its approach to the avant-garde and teens in general.

Another thing that was greatly unsurprising about the book was that it pits "religious" against "non-religious" people. The "religious" people want to stop the main character, Leon, from making a sex education video for middle school kids. He's also gifted and "non-religious" of course. Because "gifted" people are "non-religious", oh that is novel.

It is of course, the opposite of novel. Novel is Lars and the Real Girl's handling of the church and "religious" people. This book is just the same old, same old stereotypes. Not shocking. Not new. Not anything but yawn.