Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp by C. D. Payne starts off with a bang and takes you on a wild ride. The first two parts I couldn't stop reading it... did not want to put it down. The third and final part took a little more effort... but that could be a matter of taste. I've never been entertained by crossdressing.

Nick is your typical 14 year old loser who very diligently keeps a journal. We are lucky enough to read his entries from July to January. The entries reveal that Nick is longing for independence and most desperately a girlfriend. When his mother and her truck driver boyfriend take Nick on vacation to a lakeside trailer park, Nick meets the girl who will soon become his unraveling. In a matter of days Nick is in love... although it's not quite clear how Sheeni feels about him. The remaining 350 pages detail the lengths Nick is willing to go to .

Although the story was entertaining and wildly far-fetched, it's difficult to empathize with the main character (Nick) when he's ruining his life for a highly annoying and phony character (Sheeni). Yet, it is clear that Payne intends for Sheeni to give this impression, perhaps to highlight how motivating love can be?

Good news for Michael Cera fans! Youth in Revolt is becoming a movie with Cera taking on the role of Nick (I would assume). This follows Cera's role as Nick in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, another young adult novel. I'm a little curious how producers will manage to take a nearly 500 page book and movie-ize it when large chunks went missing in the 200 pager.

Recommendation: Teenage angst is teenage angst but it's even more entertaining to read about teenage angst circa 1993.