Crush: The Theory, Practice and Destructive Properties of Love

Liar, Liar #3

by Gary Paulsen

Readers met the comical Kevin in Liar, Liar and Flat Broke.  Kevin gets serious about Tina Zabinski, the Most Beautiful Girl in the World. Finally, finally, he's worked up his courage—he's going to ask her out. Or will his trademark scheming get in his way?

Genres: Middle Grade, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Romance, Love

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

What's that? You say you want antics from Kevin Spencer that are more over-the-top than in the first two books of the Liar, Liar series? Then Crush: The Theory, Practice and Destructive Properties of Love is for you, especially the early parts. Kevin's schemes to lie and buy his way to success have crashed and burned, but he hasn't given up on convincing the gorgeous Tina Zabinski to love him. Normally super-articulate for a fourteen-year-old, Kevin's brain goes wonky near Tina, and now he's worried that an emerging rival—smooth, athletic Cash Devine, a new student at school—may swoop in and win her heart. It's urgent that Kevin expedite his learning curve in matters of romance, so he devises a series of scientific tests related to boy-girl relationships. His recent social experiments have ended badly, but he hopes for a different result now that he's sworn off lying and taking advantage of people.

The first couple that Kevin studies is his parents. Assisted by Markie, a preschool boy he babysits, Kevin prepares an at-home dinner date for his parents, but his typical lack of proper planning ruins the evening. His parents don't seem stressed, though; in fact, they're nearly always relaxed with each other. What's their secret to a lasting relationship? Where is all the excitement and nerves that Kevin associates with love? He interviews his Auntie Buzz in hopes of achieving a clearer outlook, despite her three failed marriages, but she isn't much help. His sixteen-year-old sister Sarah also does little to forward Kevin's grasp of romance; a few of her friends volunteer to help reform his personality, but he's not sure he trusts a group of girls who openly despise him. Could his friend JonPaul's girlfriend, Sam, shed light on the ins and outs of amor? Um...not so much. She and JonPaul are as boring together as Kevin's parents.

Kevin sets up his fifteen-year-old brother Daniel on a date, hoping to observe how he interacts with a girl. The match is a good one, and Kevin repeats this success by finding dates for a few other guys he knows, but he's still not comprehending the essence of love. He takes a look at internet dating, and even organizes a mass speed-dating session at school. Noticing that Markie's parents, who not long ago announced their intention to divorce, are getting along better lately, he asks Markie to help make a special display celebrating their marriage and family. If he can convince them not to split up, maybe he'll learn what makes romance work. Kevin is running numerous experiments simultaneously, some successful and others dismal failures, but it's not until the final pages of Crush that he realizes what most strong romantic relationships have in common: people simply enjoying themselves together, overlooking faults, not worrying about the mechanics of conversation or how they express affection to each other. If Kevin puts aside the scientific analysis for a minute, he might find that attracting Tina's attention isn't hard; in fact, she might already fancy his unique personal style.

I wasn't expecting much from this series after the first two books, Liar, Liar and Flat Broke. But Crush surprised me; Kevin is still implausibly clueless about the consequences of his actions, but he functions as more than a convenient scapegoat for when things go wrong at the end. There's a real lesson to the story: happiness flourishes when you take risks and live life, trusting it will somehow turn out okay. Kevin discovers he's ready for that step of faith as Crush ends. If books four and five continue the trend of improvement, then Liar, Liar might just be a decent series. No one writes quite like Gary Paulsen.

[Kathryn, the_naptime_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book about first crushes and young love. A few parts that made me chuckle out loud as a grownup. Might be my favorite in the series, but the novels all have the same feel, a scheme, missteps, heartfelt lesson learned, a happy ending, and I’m getting bored, so probably won’t finish the series. Sort of wish I had just read this one, probably works as a stand alone.

[Teague Hannes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall great book, I just completely misunderstood the inside cover.

[Aidan Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Gary Paulsen's Crush. This is a story is about an 8th grade boy named Kevin who has a huge crush on a girl in his grade named Tina. Kevin tries getting Tina in a scientific matter, preforming experiments and making observations. In the end, he realizes that his ways won't work trying to get Tina, so he gives up but then she asks him out in the very end and he realizes that he needs to be layed back. I think that this book is a good book because it has very well used words in context. I would like to read the other stories in this series. This is one of those books where you can flip through pages and want to make sure that you read every little detail on the page because it is that good. I can relate to Kevin because he tries to make thing to complicated all the time. People should appreciate this story and this is also one of the many reasons I like it, the fact that it connects to a young audience by relating to 14 year old boys. So in all, this book deserves a good review because it van relate to others, uses great context and a large vocabulary, and has a very nice ending to a building up series of events and climax

[nikita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this book is for younger kids (and also the third in a series) but it was very good :) and very sweet. It was kind of funny because the kids were supposed to be my age but they acted so strange. But overall, I really liked it because Kevin was stupid and baby and I could relate to him. :) (also the cover art is VERY nice)

[Kathy Ellen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this and thought it was hilarious.
I haven't read any of the other ones featuring Kevin, but now i want to!

I loved the characters,
And how wacky Kevin is,
and the scientific chapter titles.
Very fun.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because it involved science and romance. The reason why I didn't give it 5 stars was because on the very last page it only said how he asked out Tina and I thought that could've come sooner. But otherwise, I really liked the book.

[Clara Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little slow bit other than that, it was very interesting. I liked how it had scientific things in it and how the chapter titles used science words.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I ended up reading this book to Jonathan because he brought it home from the library and I had questions as to whether it would be appropriate. So we read it together. And I'm so glad we did. It was funny - really funny. And in retrospect, nothing to worry about age-wise, imo. 4.5 stars and thanks to Gary Paulsen for a penetrating introspective into the hopeful (and hopeless) love life of a young teenage boy.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin takes his understanding of the scientific method and attempts to apply to it learning about romance. His naivete and innocence about relationships and dating makes not only this character, but even his crazy antics all the more endearing. The girls who were bored by Hatchet will love Crush.

[Verity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in a couple hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew Gary Paulsen could grab my attention with books like Hatchet, but this one carried me away with its humor. Quick, fun read.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty good for someone like me that doesn't like to read. Kevin is a very good at romance but he always fails at the end. Also knows a lot about scientific romance.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Not as funny as others led me to believe, got only a few chuckles. Was kind of unbelievably innocent (I certainly wasn't that childlike at 14) but it was cute.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Hilarious, and so much fun. I never knew this trilogy existed, so now that I know, I'm going to read Liar, Liar and the other one. I could definitely use some more delight in this kiddo's antics. I'm a grownup, but I'm a Gary Paulsen fan. It's cool how he can write so many different ways. This was not a "way" that I'm familiar with from him, but he did a great job! I had one Keeper from this book, and it was as follows: "Not everything that is special looks special." So true! It was nice that it ended how it did, as well. Some of my favorite parts are the spaghetti date and the homework date. I was a kiddo who "went out" with a boy when I was 14. We kept going out...for a long time. We got married when I was 22. We've been married 19 years. We're in it for life! This stuff is real!

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this novel with a couple of middle school boys who were reluctant readers. Kevin's antics are humorous, engaging and we all enjoyed reading "Crush" even though none of us had read the first two Kevin Spencer books.
Kevin is easy to relate to; a little awkward, mistake prone, and thoroughly 14. There's less resolution in his relationship with Tina (the "crush" referenced in the title) than I expected, but the plot reflects some small changes for Kevin that help drive the story. An entertaining, and easy read.

[Mr. Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars but I rounded up because I liked the ending. The book was okay overall. I found many parts of it to be unrealistic and it dragged quite a bit in the middle for me. Definitely a good choice for a reluctant reader in early middle school.

[Syd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good; funny. Was kinda expecting more chemistry between Kevin and Tina. There was really only few scenes where they were speaking to each other. But, still good and funny.
It is and easy read for 4th graders and up, and there is nothing bad in it.

[Deborah Horton Core · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paulson is just too much fun.

Paulson is a master at understanding kids. It’s like he never truly grew up. I loved Kevin’s determination and his scientific approach. This would be a great book for science teachers to use to explain scientific theory.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure if eighth-grade boys today would identify with this story's protagonist. He seems naive compared to teens today. Adults would appreciate Paulsen's humor in the book. It was a quick and enjoyable read. I think middle schoolers would like it.

[Gail Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

hilarious

[Sarah Reiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

serious, crush, courage, scheming

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was okay. It skipped around a lot though and was kind of hard to understand. Even though it did that it was still a pretty good book.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for our work book club. Cute... but not great.

[Bella=) · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was like the second book

[Grant Angione · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good book, it was an easy read. It was a short book but a good read.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my students and they loved it. Definitely going to have to find the first two books now.

[Mark Smiley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another boom which should have taken hours to read, not days. Think I am done with this series.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, laugh-out-loud story. I think I need to read the two previous ones. I read it out loud to my 14-year-old daughter, and we both were entertained.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty good book. it had some interesting characters

[sree · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved by my kids