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Confessions of a Teenage Baboon
Vintage paperback
165 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
3 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Paul Zindel
85 books301 followersPaul Zindel was an American author, playwright and educator.
In 1964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, his first and most successful play. The play ran off-Broadway in 1970, and on Broadway in 1971. It won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was also made into a 1972 movie by 20th Century Fox. Charlotte Zolotow, then a vice-president at Harper & Row (now Harper-Collins) contacted him to writing for her book label. Zindel wrote 39 books, all of them aimed at children or young adults. Many of these were set in his home town of Staten Island, New York. They tended to be semi-autobiographical, focusing on teenage misfits with abusive or neglectful parents. Despite the often dark subject matter of his books, which deal with loneliness, loss, and the effects of abuse, they are also filled with humor. Many of his novels have wacky titles, such as My Darling, My Hamburger, or Confessions of A Teenage Baboon.
The Pigman, first published in 1968, is widely taught in American schools, and also made it on to the list of most frequently banned books in America in the 1990s, because of what some deem offensive language.
In 1964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, his first and most successful play. The play ran off-Broadway in 1970, and on Broadway in 1971. It won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was also made into a 1972 movie by 20th Century Fox. Charlotte Zolotow, then a vice-president at Harper & Row (now Harper-Collins) contacted him to writing for her book label. Zindel wrote 39 books, all of them aimed at children or young adults. Many of these were set in his home town of Staten Island, New York. They tended to be semi-autobiographical, focusing on teenage misfits with abusive or neglectful parents. Despite the often dark subject matter of his books, which deal with loneliness, loss, and the effects of abuse, they are also filled with humor. Many of his novels have wacky titles, such as My Darling, My Hamburger, or Confessions of A Teenage Baboon.
The Pigman, first published in 1968, is widely taught in American schools, and also made it on to the list of most frequently banned books in America in the 1990s, because of what some deem offensive language.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
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January 28, 2008I'm re-reading all my tattered Paul Zindel YA paperbacks, starting with this one. Man, they are dark. Paul Zindel was my favorite writer as a young tween. He wrote about weird, ugly, awkward, fucked-up, lonely working class kids in bad situations, with lots of gritty detail. This is the saddest of them all: a misfit teenage boy and his widowed live-in nurse mom move in with her patient, a dying old lady with dementia and a lewd streak and her adult son prone to sadistic mind games, violent alcoholic rages, and depression. It's all bittersweet and grotesque with Zindel, so it's not as depressing as that blurb just made it sound; our hero has some genuine connection with his antagonist, learns lessons, is a teenager. While the content is a little surreal, the tone's not dramatic, in fact it's almost mundane, like, 'this is how life is, it's strange and crappy and dark and there are occasional flashes of beauty or insight or humor, and you just keep going.' Because it is, and you do. (One of my favorite things about my 1977 edition is that the back cover copy says, "Meet Chris Boyd, teenage nurd." I didn't realize we hadn't standardized the spelling of "nerd" by the late 70s.) More Zindel on the way.
April 18, 2021
This is a young adult novel from 1977. Much has changed since then, but even so, the premise of this book is most odd. The first person protagonist's mother is a live-in nurse, and she takes her 15 year old son with her to live-in on her jobs.
In 1977 young adult books were aimed at teens. They still are, but instead of calling them teen books or teenage books, now they are young adult.
For extra flavour, the edition I read (not shown here) was prepared for German readers learning English, so had a helpful glossary at the back translating English slang, and offered questions for study and discussion. For example: "Was Lloyd just a partying idiot, or did he have something else to give to the kids as well?"
Lloyd is 30 years old, and what he gives to the kids is alcohol and a place to party. His actions would now be called "grooming". In this novel, he is a sort of replacement father figure, although perhaps the text is intended to show how fatherless boys might be vulnerable to the influence of male role models. The writing was a little uneven but I had to keep reading because the plot was so wacky. A German publisher, though, felt that German schoolchildren might be interested in this slice of Americana.
I'd never heard of this author before, but he seems well-known for teen books tackling thorny and complicated issues. Did I say teen?—I meant Young Adult.
In 1977 young adult books were aimed at teens. They still are, but instead of calling them teen books or teenage books, now they are young adult.
For extra flavour, the edition I read (not shown here) was prepared for German readers learning English, so had a helpful glossary at the back translating English slang, and offered questions for study and discussion. For example: "Was Lloyd just a partying idiot, or did he have something else to give to the kids as well?"
Lloyd is 30 years old, and what he gives to the kids is alcohol and a place to party. His actions would now be called "grooming". In this novel, he is a sort of replacement father figure, although perhaps the text is intended to show how fatherless boys might be vulnerable to the influence of male role models. The writing was a little uneven but I had to keep reading because the plot was so wacky. A German publisher, though, felt that German schoolchildren might be interested in this slice of Americana.
I'd never heard of this author before, but he seems well-known for teen books tackling thorny and complicated issues. Did I say teen?—I meant Young Adult.
January 29, 2015
I picked this one up at a paperback exchange in a public library. I hadn't thought of Paul Zindel in years; he was a big deal among kids when I was in junior high/high school. I'd loved "The Pigman" and always meant to read this one. Well, 30 years after the fact, I finally got the chance.
"Teenage Baboon" is a half-baked souffle. It ain't bad, but it's clearly missing something. The narrator is cut from the Holden Caulfield mold--- he's a streetwise, smartassed kid telling his story directly to the reader. I won't go into the whole tale here. 15-year old Chris Boyd goes with his live-in nurse mom to take care of a dying old lady, Carmelita, in her home for a week. There, Chris encounters Carmelita's senile husband, her asshole 30-year old son Lloyd, and Lloyd's 16-year old "pal," Harold. Plenty of interesting stuff happens in that week. . .but something's off-key throughout.
The main issue in the book is Chris' lack of a male role model. His father ran out on his mother and him many years ago and died. Zindel never provides much info on Chris' pop, other than how his mother hated him. The father's sole legacy to Chris is an oversized chesterfield overcoat that Chris treats like a holy relic, carrying it around with him during his and his mom's frequent moving between clients' homes and the cheapshit hotel they reside in between jobs.
Zindel sets up Lloyd as a role model for Chris. But then, the author portrays this overgrown adolescent as an abusive drunk who neglects his elderly parents and frequently blows off work to drink and, disturbingly, hang out with high school kids for whom he throws a neverending series of booze-soaked parties.
Lloyd gives Chris some 'tough love,' telling the boy to respect his body through regular bathing, exercise and healthy eating. He tells Chris to stand up to his overbearing mother and be the young man that he is. Solid enough advice, for sure. But coming from Lloyd, a character Zindel renders in the bleak colors of a hardcore loser? The novelist never resolves the question of why Chris would view Lloyd as a role model or take anything he says seriously. Indeed, Chris spends most of the book fearing Lloyd for his borderline-psycho behavior.
I know it's unfair to hold a 1977 novel up to 2015 standards, but Lloyd would've set alarm bells jangling even back in the Carter era. He's drunk pretty much always. He's vicious and verbally/physically abusive to all around him. An adult man, he hangs out exclusively with high school kids, holding wild parties at which Lloyd provides the kids with ready access to alcohol and rooms of his house to screw in. And then there's his relationship with Harold.
Zindel casts Harold as a Sal Mineo-in-"Rebel Without a Cause"-type, a lonely, wimpy kid who's overlooked by everyone, including his parents. Harold spends nearly all of his time at Lloyd's place slavishly cooking for, cleaning for and waiting on the tool. Harold credits Lloyd with "saving" him with the same advice Lloyd doles out to Chris. Though Zindel never says so, Harold and Lloyd clearly have a dysfunctional "wife" and "husband" thing going. Example? Lloyd dispatches Harold to the supermarket to fetch goodies for yet another bash. When Harold fails to do so, Lloyd slaps the shit out of him. Poor Harold.
And poor reader, for this novel is filled with dead-ends and unanswered questions. Chris has a cute almost-relationship with a girl named Rosemary, but she dumps Chris for a truck-stop quickie with a jock named Apollo. Chris' mom is a two-dimensional shrew who evolves not a bit through the story. Chris, at age 15, knows what "titular" and "jurisprudence" mean, but he needs Lloyd to tell him to shower daily? The other kids who party with Lloyd are mere spear-carriers. School is frequently mentioned, but these teenagers spend no time there. And the neighborhood in which the whole tale takes place is a ghost town peopled by---well, we never see the neighbors. Whoever they are, they're unusually forgiving. They quietly endure Lloyd's loud wing-dings without ever calling the cops once.
And the whole thing just winds up. . .nowhere. Two major characters die, but their deaths yield neither peace nor understanding. Nobody learns much of anything or changes for the better. We never find out why Chris is writing his "confession," or to whom he's writing it. The "teenage baboon" of the title is never mentioned. Finally, Zindel leaves Chris sitting with Rosemary on a park bench, spouting half-assed poetry and looking up at the stars. The end.
Maybe this played better back in the days when the Sweathogs and James at 15 were considered typical teenagers. But now, the gaps in credibility are just too wide for this Generation X'er to ignore. For my money, Zindel's finest hour remains "The Pigman."
"Teenage Baboon" is a half-baked souffle. It ain't bad, but it's clearly missing something. The narrator is cut from the Holden Caulfield mold--- he's a streetwise, smartassed kid telling his story directly to the reader. I won't go into the whole tale here. 15-year old Chris Boyd goes with his live-in nurse mom to take care of a dying old lady, Carmelita, in her home for a week. There, Chris encounters Carmelita's senile husband, her asshole 30-year old son Lloyd, and Lloyd's 16-year old "pal," Harold. Plenty of interesting stuff happens in that week. . .but something's off-key throughout.
The main issue in the book is Chris' lack of a male role model. His father ran out on his mother and him many years ago and died. Zindel never provides much info on Chris' pop, other than how his mother hated him. The father's sole legacy to Chris is an oversized chesterfield overcoat that Chris treats like a holy relic, carrying it around with him during his and his mom's frequent moving between clients' homes and the cheapshit hotel they reside in between jobs.
Zindel sets up Lloyd as a role model for Chris. But then, the author portrays this overgrown adolescent as an abusive drunk who neglects his elderly parents and frequently blows off work to drink and, disturbingly, hang out with high school kids for whom he throws a neverending series of booze-soaked parties.
Lloyd gives Chris some 'tough love,' telling the boy to respect his body through regular bathing, exercise and healthy eating. He tells Chris to stand up to his overbearing mother and be the young man that he is. Solid enough advice, for sure. But coming from Lloyd, a character Zindel renders in the bleak colors of a hardcore loser? The novelist never resolves the question of why Chris would view Lloyd as a role model or take anything he says seriously. Indeed, Chris spends most of the book fearing Lloyd for his borderline-psycho behavior.
I know it's unfair to hold a 1977 novel up to 2015 standards, but Lloyd would've set alarm bells jangling even back in the Carter era. He's drunk pretty much always. He's vicious and verbally/physically abusive to all around him. An adult man, he hangs out exclusively with high school kids, holding wild parties at which Lloyd provides the kids with ready access to alcohol and rooms of his house to screw in. And then there's his relationship with Harold.
Zindel casts Harold as a Sal Mineo-in-"Rebel Without a Cause"-type, a lonely, wimpy kid who's overlooked by everyone, including his parents. Harold spends nearly all of his time at Lloyd's place slavishly cooking for, cleaning for and waiting on the tool. Harold credits Lloyd with "saving" him with the same advice Lloyd doles out to Chris. Though Zindel never says so, Harold and Lloyd clearly have a dysfunctional "wife" and "husband" thing going. Example? Lloyd dispatches Harold to the supermarket to fetch goodies for yet another bash. When Harold fails to do so, Lloyd slaps the shit out of him. Poor Harold.
And poor reader, for this novel is filled with dead-ends and unanswered questions. Chris has a cute almost-relationship with a girl named Rosemary, but she dumps Chris for a truck-stop quickie with a jock named Apollo. Chris' mom is a two-dimensional shrew who evolves not a bit through the story. Chris, at age 15, knows what "titular" and "jurisprudence" mean, but he needs Lloyd to tell him to shower daily? The other kids who party with Lloyd are mere spear-carriers. School is frequently mentioned, but these teenagers spend no time there. And the neighborhood in which the whole tale takes place is a ghost town peopled by---well, we never see the neighbors. Whoever they are, they're unusually forgiving. They quietly endure Lloyd's loud wing-dings without ever calling the cops once.
And the whole thing just winds up. . .nowhere. Two major characters die, but their deaths yield neither peace nor understanding. Nobody learns much of anything or changes for the better. We never find out why Chris is writing his "confession," or to whom he's writing it. The "teenage baboon" of the title is never mentioned. Finally, Zindel leaves Chris sitting with Rosemary on a park bench, spouting half-assed poetry and looking up at the stars. The end.
Maybe this played better back in the days when the Sweathogs and James at 15 were considered typical teenagers. But now, the gaps in credibility are just too wide for this Generation X'er to ignore. For my money, Zindel's finest hour remains "The Pigman."
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December 30, 2014I don't even know what went on in this book. What Lloyd a molester of teenagers? Did this kid's mother kill her patient? WTF went on?! I just don't even know! It seems like more disturbing things happened than I thought or maybe my imagination is over active.
December 7, 2021
Wow! This is some messed up shit. I recall as a teen when I read Confessions of a Teenage Baboon that I really didn’t like it because I really didn’t get it. The subject matter went over my 13-year-old head. Re-reading it as an adult it’s a real doozy.
The gist of the story is this: 15-year-old Chris Boyd lives a somewhat transient life with his mother Helen. Helen is a live-in nurse whose specialty is providing in-home hospice care. She’s also a kleptomaniac. Her latest assignment is caring for an elderly woman at the home of the woman’s son—Lloyd Dipardi. Lloyd is a 30-year-old alcoholic who lives there with his father (who’s obviously suffering from dementia but no one seems too concerned about that—in fact, he’s pretty much a pointless character). Lloyd has a tendency to invite teenage kids over to his house to party with him while plying them with food and alcohol and skinny-dipping access to his swimming pool. Upon their first meeting Chris and Lloyd take an instant dislike of each other.
Chris has no friends. When he was 7-years-old his father walked out on them. So, the only thing that gives Chris any solace is his father’s old Chesterfield coat. He not only longs for the day he can finally fit the coat but also lives in his memories of his father when his father was around.
Lloyd is particularly fond of a neighborhood kid named Harold—a meek 15-year-old that he has taken under his wing. Harold befriends Chris and tries to convince Chris that Lloyd really means well and isn’t as bad as he seems. Over the course of a few weeks the situation between Chris, Lloyd, Helen, and Harold comes to an explosive and devastating head.
Ok. So, here’s the part that makes this some messed up shit. Skip this section if you plan to read this for the first time. It’s a doozy.
I read that Confessions of a Teenage Baboon was partially inspired by Zindel’s own life (his mother was a hospice care nurse who took in patients at their home, his father walked out on them, he grew up on Staten Island). So it makes me wonder how much of this story really happened to him and how much is fictional.
What I love about Paul Zindel’s novels is he doesn’t underestimate the intelligence of his teenage audience. He “tells it like it is” to borrow a phrase from ‘70s teenagers. This is some sophisticated fare masquerading as a lighthearted Young Adult novel. It’s interesting re-reading it as an adult to see how my perspective and understanding of it has changed. My only quibble is I wish the characters were fleshed out a bit more. It’s worth a read but not his best—that honor is reserved for The Pigman. In it Zindel perfectly maintains a delicate balance between his trademark characterization, devastating drama, and emotional impact.
The gist of the story is this: 15-year-old Chris Boyd lives a somewhat transient life with his mother Helen. Helen is a live-in nurse whose specialty is providing in-home hospice care. She’s also a kleptomaniac. Her latest assignment is caring for an elderly woman at the home of the woman’s son—Lloyd Dipardi. Lloyd is a 30-year-old alcoholic who lives there with his father (who’s obviously suffering from dementia but no one seems too concerned about that—in fact, he’s pretty much a pointless character). Lloyd has a tendency to invite teenage kids over to his house to party with him while plying them with food and alcohol and skinny-dipping access to his swimming pool. Upon their first meeting Chris and Lloyd take an instant dislike of each other.
Chris has no friends. When he was 7-years-old his father walked out on them. So, the only thing that gives Chris any solace is his father’s old Chesterfield coat. He not only longs for the day he can finally fit the coat but also lives in his memories of his father when his father was around.
Lloyd is particularly fond of a neighborhood kid named Harold—a meek 15-year-old that he has taken under his wing. Harold befriends Chris and tries to convince Chris that Lloyd really means well and isn’t as bad as he seems. Over the course of a few weeks the situation between Chris, Lloyd, Helen, and Harold comes to an explosive and devastating head.
Ok. So, here’s the part that makes this some messed up shit. Skip this section if you plan to read this for the first time. It’s a doozy.
I read that Confessions of a Teenage Baboon was partially inspired by Zindel’s own life (his mother was a hospice care nurse who took in patients at their home, his father walked out on them, he grew up on Staten Island). So it makes me wonder how much of this story really happened to him and how much is fictional.
What I love about Paul Zindel’s novels is he doesn’t underestimate the intelligence of his teenage audience. He “tells it like it is” to borrow a phrase from ‘70s teenagers. This is some sophisticated fare masquerading as a lighthearted Young Adult novel. It’s interesting re-reading it as an adult to see how my perspective and understanding of it has changed. My only quibble is I wish the characters were fleshed out a bit more. It’s worth a read but not his best—that honor is reserved for The Pigman. In it Zindel perfectly maintains a delicate balance between his trademark characterization, devastating drama, and emotional impact.
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December 14, 2020Really, sort of, kind of brutal, hence totally my kind of YA novel, and one I read on repeat as a teen.
Read
December 20, 2009I always loathed the titles of Zindel's books but for some reason I read them anyway.
September 5, 2018
This didn't really do that much for me... I hope it's because of the book itself and not that I'm starting to get over my love of coming-of-age novels.
February 4, 2021
Wow! I'm definitely a Paul Zindel fan all the way. I've read his plays and only recently discovered his young adult novels. I keep discovering these old ratty mass-market paperbacks of his and with each one, I get a dark coming of age story. This one, CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BABOON, is no different. It's slightly disturbing in many ways, but Zindel creates amazing characters and puts them in desperate situations. His main characters basically are like apples that he throws down a rocky hillside. At the bottom, you can bet the apples will be bruised and will never be the same again. This story is about Chris, whose mother is one of those live-in nurses. Chris is constantly living in one stranger's house after the other, but when his mother takes on an old lady named Carmelita and moves into the house with her son, Lloyd, things start going strange. Lloyd is an adult, but the company he keeps are all teenagers. He throws wild partied for them with drinking and smoking and at one party Chris meets Rosemary and falls head over heels. Lloyd has problems, very dark, disturbing problems. Chris is trying to understand him and by understanding Lloyd, perhaps it'll hold the key into understanding himself. But will he be too late? I don't want to give too much away, but this one was a very odd story but the characters, for me, jumped off the pages. Though not one of Zinde's best, I still can't declare it to be bad. I do feel it was missing some elements of tightness in the plot. It was heavily character-driven, which I'm a fan of. It's a very sad and disturbing novel and those are the kinds I love the most. The coming of age story that deals with the realities and brutalities of life I think are the most genuine. But Zindel always gives the readers a ray of home in the end, even after you, the reader, don't really think there can be, Zindel reminds you that there can, it's all in how you look at things in a different light. Very glad I read this one. The writing is truly like you're listening to someone talk and confesses something to you, which makes it a quick read. I'll be reading more Zindel for sure. Just the titles are worth it to pick them up and read about them. He writes first-person extremely well that I'm slightly jealous of his craft. He's definitely worth picking up if you enjoy darker stories of young people. I never thought I did myself until I started reading more of them, especially from the 1960s and 70s. CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BABOON was published in 1977.
December 18, 2017
This novel devastated me. Zindel's knack for intensely unique character voices and hilarious descriptions is on full display, and so is his affection for the underside of 1970s Staten Island at the dawn of the Disco Age. But more importantly, his characters (Chris and Lloyd included) really do try to do the right thing when everything seems stacked against them, and that turns out to be both inspiring and tragic. I wasn't prepared for how dark this book is, but Zindel offers his characters redemption -- something we all deserve.
August 22, 2022
This was moving at times but honestly it just droned on. But i think it was written well and fits into the troubled teen category... reminded me a lot of catcher in the rye and the perks of being a wallflower.
May 26, 2024
I'm so confused, I don't know what to think of Lloyd.
I really don't understand the ending and the sudden bond between him and Chris.
Anyway it's fast-paced but I wouldn't recommend this book to friends that easily.
I really don't understand the ending and the sudden bond between him and Chris.
Anyway it's fast-paced but I wouldn't recommend this book to friends that easily.
October 2, 2024
i found this book randomly in like 7th grade and reread it probably every year since. it is a book aimed at young adults or teenagers but honestly it is just so well written ill probably read it for the rest of my life. its just a good book. read it
May 25, 2025
A realistic teen novel about a teenage guy who has lost his father and doesn’t see eye to eye with his mother. His mother takes care of an elderly woman. The elderly woman’s son is a thirty year old misfit who wants to teach kids about life.
September 3, 2019
"Paul Zindel is a great, funny, excellent writer" is what I noted in my journal from 1985 after reading this novel. I read quite a few of his novels as a preteen/early teen.
August 7, 2021
I would rate this book a 3.8 out of 5. The ending was really impactful to me but I just couldn’t really get into the writing style of it
January 1, 2023
What a weird, quick little read…
February 12, 2025
disturbing, dark
September 29, 2011
I first encountered Paul Zindel in his famous novelette,The Pigman, and though I have a faint recollection about the story, I strongly remember how I liked it then. So, seeing a copy of this book at Booksale, I cannot pass up the opportunity to read another one of his novels.
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon is a coming-of-age story of sixteen year-old Christopher Boyd who has to live with his nurse/caregiver mother caring for a demented old lady named Carmelita Dipardi. Carmelita has a 30-year old son, Lloyd, who is a drunk and has taken an interest on teaching Chris a thing or two about life.
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon is a dark, melancholic story, with dark, melancholic characters but I like how it ended – deeply moving and hopeful. Paul Zindel writes both with humor and wit and his analogies aren’t the clichés I often get to read in some other books. At first, Chris seems to be a normal boy but his troubles and struggles are slowly revealed one by one as the story progressed. It was not until I have finished reading when I finally understood who the “teenage baboon” in the title is being referred to in the story.
A very good read, short but pregnant with thoughts worthy of discussion. What does it really mean to be a man?
4 stars.
30/50 2011 Goodreads Reading Goal.
P.S. This review is also posted in my old blog for the meantime.
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon is a coming-of-age story of sixteen year-old Christopher Boyd who has to live with his nurse/caregiver mother caring for a demented old lady named Carmelita Dipardi. Carmelita has a 30-year old son, Lloyd, who is a drunk and has taken an interest on teaching Chris a thing or two about life.
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon is a dark, melancholic story, with dark, melancholic characters but I like how it ended – deeply moving and hopeful. Paul Zindel writes both with humor and wit and his analogies aren’t the clichés I often get to read in some other books. At first, Chris seems to be a normal boy but his troubles and struggles are slowly revealed one by one as the story progressed. It was not until I have finished reading when I finally understood who the “teenage baboon” in the title is being referred to in the story.
A very good read, short but pregnant with thoughts worthy of discussion. What does it really mean to be a man?
4 stars.
30/50 2011 Goodreads Reading Goal.
P.S. This review is also posted in my old blog for the meantime.
August 27, 2011
Paul Zindel's books have received widespread acclaim, and for good reason: he's an excellent writer. He's an adult who writes for adolescents and understands their motivations, hopes, fears, and dreams. I was first introduced to his work when I was assigned to read "The Pigman" in my ninth grade English class. I've read (and re-read) most of his work since then. This book deals with 13 year old Chris Boyd, whose mother, Helen, is a live-in nurse/caretaker. When she receives an assignment, she and Chris pack up and move to the house where she'll be working. She's now assigned to care for Mrs. Carmelita Dipardi who has a 30 year old son, Lloyd, who parties a lot and simultaneously dispenses advice to the shy, bewildered Chris, who's fixated on his missing father.
Lloyd might not be the first person anyone would go to for advice, but he reminds Chris that everyone has a choice ("You don't have to be a loser."). Zindel's books generally are tinged with sadness in some way; a character dies or gets ill, or the protagonist fails in doing something that leads to tragedy. Here, though, despite Lloyd's slightly unhinged state, it's simply an urban tale of coming of age. And it's highly recommended for all ages.
Lloyd might not be the first person anyone would go to for advice, but he reminds Chris that everyone has a choice ("You don't have to be a loser."). Zindel's books generally are tinged with sadness in some way; a character dies or gets ill, or the protagonist fails in doing something that leads to tragedy. Here, though, despite Lloyd's slightly unhinged state, it's simply an urban tale of coming of age. And it's highly recommended for all ages.
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February 13, 2017great book really made me feel like a was part of the book i would recommend this book to anyone who like a lesson learned kind of book.
March 2, 2009
I don't know what it was about this book, but I think this had to be my fav book of my teen years. I found this book when i was going through a box of my old stuff still at my mom's house, and it took everything I had not to sit on the floor of my old closet and read this book for old times sake, though i do plan to read it again soon... just to see if it is the same as i remember. 15 years later or more
February 21, 2016
This book was the first time I exposed my Zindel habit to the world with a book report: My English teacher approved, my mother did not.
Probably one of Zindel's hardest books: I finished it feeling confused and let down by everyone with the impression that most adults make crappy role models.
Despite such a gloomy outlook it is a well written and worth reading.
Probably one of Zindel's hardest books: I finished it feeling confused and let down by everyone with the impression that most adults make crappy role models.
Despite such a gloomy outlook it is a well written and worth reading.
January 5, 2015
Oh, this is one of Zindel's darkest stories. I can't say that I enjoyed it. A 16-year-old boy, Chris, and his mother, a nurse, move into 30-year-old Lloyd's house to care for his ailing mother. Lloyd is a complex and disturbing character, and I while I support the writing of complex characters in general, I kind of wish I hadn't read it.
51/60 tbr box.
51/60 tbr box.
February 6, 2011
So I just pick this book up in the library and I remember really liking the first chapters but when it get in the middle, the book got draggy and then I'm not been able to finish it because I simply lost interest.
September 21, 2007
Don't remember a thing about this, except that I loved reading it. I can also remember the summer that I read it.
the-best-children-literature
June 17, 2011great story about the imperfect world of teenagers struggling between childhood and adulthood
November 3, 2012
Very humurous and funny. Great book recomend it to young adults.
April 11, 2015
The book reminded me of Michael Jackson. Anybody?
February 5, 2016
Funny coming of age story
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews