Matthew Lillard Books

Take one obese suicidal teenage boy and put him with an anorexic looking superstar of a guitar player, and what do you get? Apparently, a band named Rage Tectonic. Troy is considering the best way to kill himself when he is interrupted by Curt, a guitar player who is famous at Troy's high school. Curt decides he wants Troy to be the drummer for what will be the next breakout punk band, Rage Tectonic. There's only one problem: Troy can't play the drums. Undeterred, Curt pushes, cajoles, and manipulates Troy into thinking maybe he can learn. Are Curt's optimism and spunk enough to turn Troy from a fat loser into a punk rock drummer?

Life has never been easy for Troy. His mom is dead, his dad is a repressed ex-Marine, and his younger brother can't keep the contempt out of his voice when he speaks to Troy. What does Curt see in Troy? It turns out Curt has problems of his own. But Curt doesn't need anyone. He's a free bird. The characters are extremely lovable. The narrator is witty, lonely, and filled with pain. We learn who this fat kid is from the guts out.

Let me tell you, boys will love this book. Parents won't. Be very careful who you recommend this to. There is tons of language and sexual innuendo. Troy is a very sexually repressed teenage guy who has never been noticed by girls. He notices them a lot in this book. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under the age of 16.

This book, an adventure of sorts, in which an overweight high schooler is befriended by a cool, punk rock homeless kid, is filled with great energetic passages, thumping with strong language and believable emotional moments. It is appropriate for anyone who's ever felt a little different (and who among us hasn't?). I really enjoyed Going's writing, especially the dialog which, unlike so many YA books you read, didn't have that precious, I'm too smart to really be a kid voice. It had a great balance of reality, emotion, and strong storytelling. Fat Kid rules!

Going has a talent for stepping into the shoes of her male characters and explaining what's "Going on" in their heads. Her writing is amusing and engaging. However, there's one thing I want to bring up which is really no big deal--okay . . . it's a big deal for me since I have an analytical mind which picks out little things and analyzes them to oblivion: Going could've used a synonym or two for the word "shift". My brain picked up one too many instances of this word within the first half of the book. I know you people must be rolling your eyes right about now but what can I do but report what I see and how it makes me feel. Ultimately, it means nothing, but I want her to be aware that there are some readers who have any eye for this sort of thing. Anyway, great book. I'll recommend it to my friends. This will go on my favorite books list. The one I keep in my head.

"Would it be funny if the Fat Kid got splattered by a subway train?" Those are the thoughts of Troy Billings, a depressed, suicidal, overweight teen who meets Curt McRae, a homeless teen who lives in the New York subway when he's not performing in underground music concerts. Troy become Curt's drummer, where they go onto change their lives and the music world altogether.

My favorite is when Troy's dad, an ex-marine, smuggles Curt out of the hospital so that he can get to the show he's supposed to be performing in.

The message of this book is that everyone has their own place in the world that will make them feel like they have a purpose in life.

This is a book is a good book. It really showed the influence music can have on people. It's also nice that you don't need any prior understanding to get it. Because of that, this book is good for all audiences.

Troy knows that everyone is watching him. And laughing at him. Of course they are. At seventeen years old and almost 300 pounds, wearing what appears to be the same pair of tan pants daily, every move he makes is laughable. Will he be able to get out of the car? How many burgers will he eat? Even his effort to breathe is laughable as he huffs and puffs his way along.

He worries that he smells. You don't understand. It's not that he's a pig or anything, he just has a hard time fitting in the shower.

Poised over the subway tracks, Troy contemplates whether he can find a form of suicide that will be so serious, so severe, that no one will laugh. Enter Curt. Semi-homeless teen, school dropout, legend at his high school, and uber amazing guitar player, Curt attaches himself to Troy after saving him from the tracks. He's an itch that can't be scratched, a tick burrowing under the skin. Before Troy realizes it, he's agreed to buy Curt dinner and join his band as a drummer, even though he hasn't played since seventh grade.

Who is he kidding? He can't do this. He sees it in the eyes of his perfect kid brother, Dayle, as well as his military dad, the "disappointed dysfunctional parent."

But with Curt's help, Troy learns to look past himself. He finds support in unexpected places. But it's not until Curt is hospitalized that Troy finally has the guts to really take a risk.

This is a fast-paced book. K. L. Going immerses the reader in the world of punk rock through the eyes of the fat kid who yearns to have people really look at him. She has a great sense of humor that shines with lines of comparison, like when Troy compares himself to Dayle before the big gig. Troy thinks Dayle looks like he's "ready to win the Super Bowl, while I'm ready to heave into one." Ms. Going does an amazing job of getting into the psyche of the fat kid. There is a fair amount of rough language, but even so, this book rocks!

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger