Swim the Fly
10 best books like Swim the Fly (Don Calame): Stupid Fast, Spanking Shakespeare, Into the Wild Nerd Yonder, Repossessed, 12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn, Born to Rock, Vögelein: Clockwork Faerie, Leverage, Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath, Borderline
| Author | Geoff Herbach |
| ISBN | 1402256302 |
I, Felton Reinstein, am Stupid Fast. Seriously. The upper classmen used to call me Squirrel Nut, because I was little and jumpy. Then, during sophomore year, I got tall and huge and so fast the gym teachers in their tight shorts fell all over themselves. During summer, three things happened all at once....
| Author | Jake Wizner |
| ISBN | 0375840850 |
SHAKESPEARE SHAPIRO HAS ALWAYS hated his name. His parents bestowed it on him as some kind of sick joke when he was born, and his life has gone downhill from there, one embarrassing incident after another. Entering his senior year of high school, Shakespeare has never had a girlfriend, his younger brother...
| Author | Julie Halpern |
| ISBN | 0312382529 |
It’s Jessie’s sophomore year of high school. A self-professed “mathelete,” she isn’t sure where she belongs. Her two best friends have transformed themselves into punks and one of them is going after her longtime crush. Her beloved older brother will soon leave for college (and in the meantime...
| Author | A.M. Jenkins |
| ISBN | 0060835680 |
Don't call me a demon. I prefer the term Fallen Angel.
Everybody deserves a vacation, right? Especially if you have a pointless job like tormenting the damned. So who could blame me for blowing off my duties and taking a small, unauthorized break?
Besides, I've always wanted to see...
12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn
It’s Wes Anderson meets Holden Caufield in this wry and funny novel about a boy who is sent to live with his uncle when his father (a bestselling self-help author) dies.
James “Hercules” Martino has until the end of the summer (a.k.a. two weeks) to accomplish the twelve tasks given to him...
| Author | Gordon Korman |
| ISBN | 0786809205 |
"You know what punk is? A bunch of no-talent guys who really, really want to be in a band. Nobody reads music, nobody plays the mandolin, and you're too dumb to write songs about mythology or Middle Earth. So what's your style? Three chords, cranked out fast and loud and distorted because your instruments...
| Author | Jane Irwin |
| ISBN | 0974311006 |
When Jakob, Vögelein's Guardian of fifty years, dies quietly in his sleep one night, her life is thrown into utter turmoil. Left without someone to wind her, the tiny clockwork faerie has less than five hours to live--unless she can find someone to trust. Unable to reach the keyhole in her back, she continues...
| Author | Joshua C. Cohen |
| ISBN | 0525423060 |
The football field is a battlefield
There's an extraordinary price for victory at Oregrove High. It is paid on - and off - the football field. And it claims its victims without mercy - including the most innocent bystanders.
When a violent, steroid-infused, ever-escalating prank...
| 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 | Allan Stratton |
| ISBN | 0061451126 |
Life’s not easy for Sami Sabiri, especially since his dad stuck him at a private boys’ school where he’s the only Muslim kid. But it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one. In a whirlwind,...
| Author | Allen Zadoff |
| ISBN | 1606840045 |
What’s worse than being fat your freshman year?
Being fat your sophomore year.
Life used to be so simple for Andrew Zansky–hang with the Model UN guys, avoid gym class, and eat and eat and eat. He’s used to not fitting in: into his family, his sports-crazed school, or his size 48 pants.
...
| Author | Micol Ostow |
| ISBN | 0738714712 |
Despite his dreams of hipster rock glory, Ari Abramson's band, the Tribe, is more white bread than indie-cred. Made up of four suburban teens from a wealthy Jewish school, their Motley Crue is about as hardcore as SAT prep and scripture studies.
But after a one-song gig at a friend's Bar Mitzvah--a...
| 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 | Eric Luper |
| ISBN | 0061827533 |
Seth Baumgartner just had the worst day of his life.
His girlfriend dumped him (at Applebee's), he spied his father on a date with a woman who is not his mother (also at Applebee's!), and he lost his fourth job of the year. It's like every relationship he cares about is imploding, and he can't figure...
| Author | Brent Hartinger |
| ISBN | 0060824115 |
For most kids, fifteen is the year of the optional summer job: Sure, you can get a job if you really want one, but it isn't required or anything. Too bad Dave's dad doesn't agree! Instead of enjoying long days of biking, swimming, and sitting around, Dave and his two best friends are being forced by their...
| Author | Susan Juby |
| ISBN | 0060765259 |
Sunglasses. Check.
Binoculars. Check.
Notepad.
Check.
Mom's pink bike.
Check. Check?
Meet Sherman Mack. Short. Nerdy. Amateur P.I. and prepared to do anything for Dini Trioli.
Nobody knows who began it or when it became a tradition, but every girl at Harewood...
| Author | Josh Lieb |
| ISBN | 1595142401 |
Family Guy meets Election in this hilarious young adult debut! Twelve-year-old Oliver Watson’s got the IQ of a grilled cheese sandwich. Or so everyone in Omaha thinks. In reality, Oliver’s a mad evil genius on his way to world domination, and he’s used his great brain to make himself the third-richest...
| Author | Aaron Karo |
| ISBN | 0374343969 |
Chuck Taylor's OCD has rendered him a high school outcast. His endless routines and habitual hand washing threaten to scare away both his closest friend and the amazing new girl in town. Sure he happens to share the name of the icon behind the coolest sneakers in the world, but even Chuck knows his bizarre...
| Author | Natale Ghent |
| ISBN | 0385667329 |
A smart and thoughtful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and finding friendship — all in the places you’d least expect.
Sioux Smith is sharp, funny, and wry, and is pretty certain that she sees the world of high school differently from everyone else — a belief that is cemented...
| Author | Blake Nelson |
| ISBN | 0545104742 |
From Blake Nelson, a fantastic and topical novel about idealism and finding the ideal girl.
James Hoff likes to rant against America's consumerist culture. He also likes to rant against his ex-girlfriend, Sadie, who he feels isn't doing enough to change the world. But just like he can't avoid...
