This has been on my to read list for a long time (a couple of years) and so when I brought it home with my huge stack of summer reading, I quickly moved it to the top and took it along with me to the lake. It is definately in the same category as Swim the Fly by Don Calame -- realistic fiction, inside the head of a teenage guy, laugh-out-loud funny, but definately mature. I read a couple of chapters out loud to my nephews and they agreed that it would make a good read for most teenaged guys.
I enjoyed that Carter is a popular kid, even though he has several setbacks -- stuttering, ADD, and terrible organizational skills (he writes everything kind of reminder on his hand, arm, etc. - from deodorant, to party at Maria's.) He's likable, he's flawed, he's confident (with his friends) and ackward with girls, he wants to be cool, but sometimes misses the mark, There is much to learn about fitting- in, in high school and Carter learns most of these lessons the hard way.
Here's the summary from the book jacket.
Join Carter for his freshman year, where he'll search for sex, love , and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he'll almost kill a trombone player, face off against his greatest nemesis, get caught up in a messy love triangle, suffer a lost of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprize the hell out of everyone, including himself.
