XL
I went to the library earlier this week and just grabbed a few things from the YA section that seemed to call out to me. XL by Scott Brown was one of them. I briefly read the description and it sounded like fun. It also fit my book bingo prompt of written from a young male POV so I'm glad I picked this one!
XL is about Will Daughtry who on his sixteenth birthday has seemingly topped out at 4'11". While everyone around him has had their fair share of growth spurts, Will has been stuck and it doesn't seem like things will change. Luckily he has his stepbrother and best friend, Drew (6'3") and Monica, his forever crush (5'10") to help him through life. Until, he is ready to admit his love to Monica and she friend zones him in favor of striking up a relationship with Drew. It seems that their trio might be changed forever.
Especially when Will finally starts to grow. He grows so much that they worry it could be a tumor or a disease or something else that will definitely kill him. But for the first time, Will is seeing the rest of the world from a new perspective and he loves the attention that his height brings him instead of the attention he used to get for being short. Unfortunately, his stature seems to have the greatest effect on his relationships with his friends and Will doesn't really like how things are turning out. He, along with everyone around him, has to come to terms with the new reality of things and figure out a way to hang on to the people that they care about.
As a tall girl myself (5'10"), I thought this book sounded like a lot of fun..a 16 year-old boy being self-conscious about his height makes a lot of sense and I can see how other late blooming teenage boys might relate to him. But ultimately this book becomes about relationships and change rather than how tall someone is. As humans we really like the status quo, and when things are thrown off balance we find ourselves grasping for something familiar to hold on to and Will learns this over the course of this novel.
There was a lot of humor in this book as well. Will's, at times, teenage boy stream-of-consciousness narration makes for some good laughs. I found myself wanting to quote a few lines to my husband every once in a while. But obviously, teenage boys aren't always super appropriate so there is some language as well as inappropriate humor. Just a heads up in case that isn't your thing!
Into the plot, Brown also weaves a little bit of a subplot about biology as Will works at the zoo with his dad and helps with the Gorillas. Will constantly is examining their behavior and relating it to the social-emotional issues that he is experiencing. As a lover of science and biology, I found it to be an interesting addition to the basic plot-line.
Sometimes I wish that author's biographies, author's notes, and acknowledgements were included at the beginning of books. I find that I learn a lot about the author from these things and it so often gives me a different perspective on the book than I would have had otherwise. I guess maybe they don't want their own personal stories interfering with the fiction that they write. But what we write is so informed by who were are...so I loved reading that the author, Scott Brown, is only 5'3" himself which I'm sure helped him in writing about Will's own feelings of being short!
Anyway, I recommend this to anyone who loves YA books, humor, short people, and great friendship/romance stories. You can purchase a copy here!
Especially when Will finally starts to grow. He grows so much that they worry it could be a tumor or a disease or something else that will definitely kill him. But for the first time, Will is seeing the rest of the world from a new perspective and he loves the attention that his height brings him instead of the attention he used to get for being short. Unfortunately, his stature seems to have the greatest effect on his relationships with his friends and Will doesn't really like how things are turning out. He, along with everyone around him, has to come to terms with the new reality of things and figure out a way to hang on to the people that they care about.
As a tall girl myself (5'10"), I thought this book sounded like a lot of fun..a 16 year-old boy being self-conscious about his height makes a lot of sense and I can see how other late blooming teenage boys might relate to him. But ultimately this book becomes about relationships and change rather than how tall someone is. As humans we really like the status quo, and when things are thrown off balance we find ourselves grasping for something familiar to hold on to and Will learns this over the course of this novel.
There was a lot of humor in this book as well. Will's, at times, teenage boy stream-of-consciousness narration makes for some good laughs. I found myself wanting to quote a few lines to my husband every once in a while. But obviously, teenage boys aren't always super appropriate so there is some language as well as inappropriate humor. Just a heads up in case that isn't your thing!
Into the plot, Brown also weaves a little bit of a subplot about biology as Will works at the zoo with his dad and helps with the Gorillas. Will constantly is examining their behavior and relating it to the social-emotional issues that he is experiencing. As a lover of science and biology, I found it to be an interesting addition to the basic plot-line.
Sometimes I wish that author's biographies, author's notes, and acknowledgements were included at the beginning of books. I find that I learn a lot about the author from these things and it so often gives me a different perspective on the book than I would have had otherwise. I guess maybe they don't want their own personal stories interfering with the fiction that they write. But what we write is so informed by who were are...so I loved reading that the author, Scott Brown, is only 5'3" himself which I'm sure helped him in writing about Will's own feelings of being short!
Anyway, I recommend this to anyone who loves YA books, humor, short people, and great friendship/romance stories. You can purchase a copy here!
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