Nothing Special
10 best books like Nothing Special (Geoff Herbach): The Summer I Learned to Fly, Guts, Gutless, Like Mandarin, Now Is the Time for Running, Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets, Knights of the Hill Country, Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath, Raiders Night, Carter Finally Gets It
| Author | Dana Reinhardt |
| ISBN | 0385739540 |
Drew's a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, her dead dad's Book of Lists, an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mom's cheese shop, and a crush on Nick, the surf bum who works behind the counter. It's the summer before eighth grade and Drew's days seem like business as usual, until one night...
Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it's probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she's dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes...
| Author | Carl Deuker |
| ISBN | 0544649613 |
Nobody on the varsity knew me, but I know what they thought: I was the guy who had good hands and could run like lightning, but who also had a yellow streak down his back.
The wide receiver best able to hang on to his quarterback’s passes, Brock Ripley would be a star for the varsity team—if he...
| Author | Kirsten Hubbard |
| ISBN | 0385739354 |
It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give...
| Author | Michael Williams |
| ISBN | 0316077909 |
Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other . . . until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the...
Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets
“I hate myself but I love Walt Whitman, the kook. Always positive. I need to be more positive, so I wake myself up every morning with a song of myself.”
Sixteen-year-old James Whitman has been yawping (à la Whitman) at his abusive father ever since he kicked his beloved older sister, Jorie,...
| Author | Tim Tharp |
| ISBN | 0375836535 |
In a small Oklahoma town, one star linebacker must decide what kind of man he wants to be--both on and off the field.
Welcome to Kennisaw--where Friday night high school football ranks right up there with God and country, and sometimes even comes in first. This year, the Kennisaw Knights are going...
| Author | Steven Goldman |
| ISBN | 1599902710 |
Mitchell Wells may not survive eleventh grade. He really only has one friend, his best friend, David. His normally decent grade point average is in limbo due to a slightly violent, somewhat inappropriate claymation film. And girls . . . well, does hanging out with his sister count?
When David...
| Author | Robert Lipsyte |
| ISBN | 0060599464 |
The pressure is on.
At Nearmont High School, football stars are treated like royalty, and Matt Rydek has just ascended to the throne. As co-captain of the Raiders, he's got it all, or so it seems: hot girls, all the right friends, plenty of juice to make him strong, and a winning team poised to go...
| Author | Brent Crawford |
| ISBN | 1423112466 |
Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.)
Here are five things you should know about him:
1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.
2. He battles Attention...
Three adolescent boys with a single goal: see a real live naked girl. The result? Razor-sharp, rapid-fire, and raunchy, of course. And beyond hilarious.
Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live...
| Author | Brent Crawford |
| ISBN | 1423112431 |
After surviving freshman year (just barely), Carter is craving his summer break. Unfortunately, when he and his girlfriend, Abby, part ways, it looks as though summer just might break him. Things start to look up when he's unexpectedly cast in an independent film opposite the world's biggest tween...
| Author | Andrew Smith |
| ISBN | 0312613415 |
Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan (nicknamed Stick because he’s tall and thin) is bullied for being “deformed” – he was born with only one ear. His older brother Bosten is always there to defend Stick. But the boys can’t defend one another from their abusive parents.
When Stick...
| Author | Carl Deuker |
| ISBN | 0547279817 |
Through the eyes of a distinctly non-athletic protagonist—a fat high school journalist named Mitch—veteran sports novelist Deuker reveals the surprising truth behind a mysterious football player named Angel. When Angel shows up Lincoln High, he seems to have no past—or at least not one...
| Author | Cecil Castellucci |
| ISBN | 0763627208 |
On the outside, Libby Brin is the most popular girl in school. But on the inside, Libby is dying — of boredom. In a moment of desperation, Libby signs up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo, much to the dismay of her friends, who’d prefer she spend her time with them, shopping, partying, and making...
Carter's Unfocused, One-Track Mind
| Author | Brent Crawford |
| ISBN | 1423144457 |
After an eventful freshman year and disastrous summer, fifteen-year-old Will Carter returns to Merrian High none the wiser. His sophomore year will present a host of new problems: the return of Scary Terry from juvie, the pregnant presence of Amber Lee, friends-with-benefits negotiations with...
| Author | Gae Polisner |
| ISBN | 0374371938 |
Nick Gardner’s life is falling apart. His dad is fat. Too fat. But Nick still doesn’t know what to think when Dad leaves town to walk off the weight and pursue some destiny that doesn’t seem to include the rest of the family. Meanwhile, The Scoot, Nick’s best friend, is dying from an incurable disease....
| Author | Paul Volponi |
| ISBN | 0670012645 |
Four players with one thing in common: the will to win
Malcolm wants to get to the NBA ASAP. Roko wants to be the pride of his native Croatia. Crispin wants the girl of his dreams. M.J. just wants a chance.
March Madness is in full swing, and there are only four teams left in the NCAA basketball...
| Author | Mike Lupica |
| ISBN | 0399252274 |
#1 New York Times bestseller Mike Lupica makes his return to the basketball court!
There's a reason teammates call him "True." Because for basketball phenom Drew Robinson, there is nothing more true than his talent on the court. It's the kind that comes along once in a generation and is loaded...
