The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

by Barry Lyga
Rating: 3.5
Format: YA
Reason for Reading: tbr pile, 999 challenge

Donnie is a loner and an outsider at school. he is a self-described "computer geek, comic geek and study geek." he's smart and does really well in school but that's about the only thing going for him at the moment. donnie lives a miserable existence wherein he is beat up almost on a daily basis, he has zero relationship with his divorced parents. his dad has stopped visiting and his pregnant mom doesn't seem to have time nor patience for donnie. his stepdad or "stepfascist" as donnie silently calls him, acts like he doesn't exist. the only friend donnie has in school is cal, a comic book fan but also a jock. in donnie's mind, the jocks come first and he is an afterthought. and cal is friends with the same jocks who beat donnie up every day.

the only thing that keeps donnie going every day is schemata, the comic book he is working on and the bullet he carries around in his pocket like a security blanket. one day kyra, a goth girl and fellow comic fan, emails him asking him why he puts up with the beatings. thereafter they form a tentative, sometimes hostile, friendship. donnie confides in kyra about his comic book and how he is preparing to take it to the big convention and show it to his favorite comic author.

donnie's thoughts are sometimes disturbing. when someone wrongs him, he adds that person to The List. he fantasizes often about bringing a gun to school and shooting everyone, namely the people on his List. he carries a bullet in his pocket for comfort. but the book doesn't end tragically or focus on mass violence. it is a probing look at how adolescents cope with bullying, feelings of helplessness, rage, and figuring out where they fit in the world.

this is an intense, well-written read. this one really stayed with me after i turned the last page.