Book Review: Stupid Fast

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fifteen-year old Felton Reinstein can’t stop eating or growing. In just a few months, he’s gone from a small, scrawny boy to a tall, fast jock and he found a really cool girlfriend. That’s all well and good, but Felton has his share of problems too. For one thing, his dad hung himself in the garage when Felton was five years old. Also, he has an annoying little brother and his mom is suddenly depressed and won’t get out of bed.

Stupid Fast is a funny and emotional coming of age story, reminiscent of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It’s so real. Felton is the narrator of the story. I’m not a fifteen year old boy but Felton’s thoughts and the way his mind works seemed very authentic to me. I could not put this book down; it got very intense at times. I wanted to strangle Felton’s mother, some of the things she did while she was having her depressed episode had my stomach in knots.

There are so few good young adult books for boys – Stupid Fast is definitely one of them. I’m excited about my boys reading this when they’re old enough. I hope they’ll enjoy it as much as I did. If nothing else, they will think I’m an awesome mom after reading about Felton’s mom! Seriously, this book is fantastic – I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about it around the blogosphere. I highly recommend it for everyone.

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