James is a hardcore anti-consumerist. He takes the bus, wears used clothing, and wants to overthrow the oil companies. And probably the government. Maybe the world. He wants big change, and he wants it now. He’s incredibly frustrated by the people around him at school and at home, especially his ex-girlfriend Sadie. She likes to do things like wave signs at protests and build bike paths, and while she clearly wants to change the world, it’s not enough for James. He rails against her at school, both out loud and in the papers he writes for his AP English class (and then he usually has to write those over). But Sadie just won’t go away, and James needs to figure out where she fits into his life. He also needs to figure out just how far he’s willing to go to defend the things he believes in, or if his beliefs are nothing more than words on paper.

James is funny, a total smartass, and clearly super smart. A lot of the papers he writes for school actually made me laugh out loud, and that doesn’t happen very often. I like Nelson’s writing, and I liked these characters. I enjoy the journal format, and think it was a good choice for this book.

Here’s my problem: I don’t know who this book is for.

It seems to be aimed at boys – I think. The galley cover was a bit of a crossover, so I could imagine handing it to the right girl – but I don’t know what’s going on with that cover I posted up there at the top. If that’s the cover that’s going to print…well, that’s awful. Because this book is not actually about destroying cars. This book is about James, and his personal thoughts and feelings (especially about Sadie), and his relationships and his life. So right off the bat, the cover doesn’t give you a good picture of what’s inside.

Added later: I blew the cover up so I could get a good look at it. Now I see the top is two people kissing. Even worse if you’re trying to sell this book to boys. Seriously, you took the galley cover and you made it even worse. No boy is going to be seen reading this book.

Added even later: Okay, I see on Blake Nelson’s website that the cover is going to be the galley cover. It’s better – it’s got a graphic of a road on it, and on the yellow line is a heart with a car inside and then a line through the car – but to me it appeals neither to boys or to girls. It’s sort of a compromise cover, and I don’t know how well those work. 

Second problem: on the back (of the galley, at least) the word “sexy” appears as a descriptor of the book. Kiss. Of. Death. Bye-bye, boys. Boys don’t read books with the word “sexy” on the back. Not THIS kind of book, anyway – not a book aimed at their age group. Plus, this book? Not really “sexy.” There’s sex in it, and James talks about sex, but that’s not the same thing.

This is a sort of Nick Hornby-esque book, and Nick Hornby’s YA novel didn’t really sell to teens. If Nick Hornby can’t do it, I don’t know how anyone else can do it. As I said, I can see some girls going for this, but is there really a huge group of teenage boys out there reading journal-style novels from the point of view of other teenage boys? Other teenage boys obsessing about girls and sex and school? Because in five years of working at a kids-only bookstore, I never met a single teenage boy who wanted to read this kind of book.

And are girls going to read it? I don’t know. It really is ALL about James, and not really in a “discover the secret thoughts of boys and figure out what they’re all about” kind of way. Some girls, yes. Some girls, no.

I really liked it, I just don’t know who I’m supposed to sell it to.