Book Review: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

Title: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
Author: David Lubar
Genre: YA Literature
Rating: A-

Abbreviated Summary (from the Back Flap): Starting high school is never easy... Could there be a worse time for Scott's mother to announce she's pregnant? Scott decides high school would be a lot less overwhelming if it came with a surival manual, so he begins to write down tips for his new sibling. Meanwhile, he's trying his best to capture the attention of Julia, the freshman goddess. In the process, Scott manages to become involved in nearly everything... While he tried to find his place in the confusing world of high school, win Julia's heart, and keep his sanity, Scott will be recording all the details for his sibling's--and your--enjoyment.

Review: I love to read YA literature about guys that are written by guys. I find it to be more entertaining, on the whole, than books about guys written by women. This book didn't disappoint in that regard.

The gimmick of chronicling the lessons learned in school was not too over the top so as to get annoying. Also, the author does a good job of making some surprising characters to be really interesting, and the romance resolution wasn't at all what I thought would have expected. It seems like it's going to go against type, and then he throws a wrench, and then it's all up in the air. I liked that.

I also liked that the author got into the characterization of the parents and Scott's older brother--they spiced up the book (and I hate to read a book about teenagers that acts as if they exist in a vacuum and they have no meaningful interactions with adults).

All in all, a decent book that I was able to rip through in a day. If you've got an extra 6 hours or so, you might try and find a copy of this book and get a laugh or two.