Clifford "Neanderthal' Hubbard is epic. At six and a half feet tall, 300 pounds, he'd be a sure bet for the football team, but he's more interested in science fiction movies and games. His brother Shane got him to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, and an abandonded seven-story office building becomes their own Monolith, a private hangout as well as a metaphor. For Happy Valley High School, and for life itself.

We know early on that something happened to Shane. We just don't know what. Gradually, Preston Norton doles it out. His pacing and timing, his riveting narrative voice, kept me turning pages nonstop to the end.

I won't repeat a synopsis here, but it's great fun reading about Aaron's near death experience and his "List" of ways to make Happy Valley better, a list delivered to him by God in the guise of Morgan Freeman in an out-of-body experience. Plenty of conflict, tension, misunderstandings, injustices, bullyings, and fights occur. Who would believe a bully like Nico could be softened, or that Frankie the drug dealer would change his ways, or the mean teacher, or the mysterious hacker known as Hal? The momentum of this story builds, and for every setback, there is progress. And a mystery to solve, and revelations to face.

On the one hand, I shake my head at all the insights these teenagers have. In the real world, how many sixteen-year-old boys could be as wise, insightful, and articulate as Neanderthal? It seems obvious a college graduate is writing this, trying to sound like a high school misfit, but unable to suppress his erudition and brilliance. On the other hand, this author is worthy of WIRED magazine for the endless snark, wit, and humor.

He'd also fit in with cracked.com and other sites for the crude and profance, which, hey, sells well these days. I'm a grandma now, not just a mother of three, and I've only just started watching the TV series "Friends" with our 22-yr-old, and I can see why my husband and I banned that show during the offsprings' the teen years. For all the good it did. Our culture is saturated with messages that any amount of indiscriminate copulating with whoever is a good thing, even if you're sixteen or younger. I'm not the target audience of this book, so I won't penalize the rating for all the testosterone-laden comments on boobs and other body parts. Five stars for the message of hope! And for a pleasant diversion from real-world matters weighing on my mind.

This is great escapist fiction with a strong message of hope and redemption, second chances, and insights into our humanity.

Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has no one at school and life in his trailer park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide.

There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who can help: Neanderthal.

To his own surprise, Cliff says he's in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS--Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

Upon reading the above synopsis, I wanted to know more of what Preston Norton had in store for Cliff. I had high hopes for this book, but what I got was more than I could have ever expected.

I love how easy it was to connect with the characters of this novel. Norton used his voice to create believable, yet flawed characters that you can't help but want to be around. I was impressed with how Norton built up the story and carefully revealed a satisfying ending. I felt myself completely immersed into the story.

I have two things that kept this book from reaching a five star rating. The first is the number of pop culture references. Pop culture references cause a book to eventually feel dated. I hope that this does not happen with this book, but it drives me crazy. I lost count of how many references were made. The second is the number of "AAAaaaaaAAHHHHHHhhhhhhHHHHHhhhHHHHHH"s were written. I'm sure there were other ways of getting this point across without having to write it like the example above.

Overall, I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

Disclaimer, I'm not a fan of YA. I read it to screen books for the library (I'm a TK-8 children's librarian). General review : entertaining, not great. A teenager or fan of YA would love it. For me, it had a lot of what I dislike in YA: a predictable plot any astute reader would surmise within the first few chapters, teenagers with more self-awareness than Oprah after a weekend in Ojai with Brene Brown, ugly people who don't realize they're gorgeous, 16 year olds with incredible vocabularies, and cardboard cutout parents spaced sporadically as plot fillers. I'm guessing most of my friends, especially the John Green fans (gag), will enjoy this one.

Weighing in at 250lbs and hitting 6'6" in height, Cliff Hubbard can't help but stick out at school. To make matters a whole lot worse, he lost the best thing in his life when his beloved older brother Shane committed suicide. Nicknamed Neanderthal by his classmates, his nemesis is Aaron Zimmerman, star quarterback of the school football team, who is everything he isn't - popular, good looking, loved by all.
Everything changes when Aaron is involved in a serious car accident, leaving him in a coma. When he defies his gloomy prognosis and wakes up, he seems to have been unaffected by his trauma. Until he announces to Cliff that he's now on a mission from God to right some wrongs, and that he has to get Cliff to help him.
Cliff decides to form an unexpected alliance with Aaron as they set about restoring balance in the world by working through the list - dealing with bullies, poisonous religious zealots, teachers who have lost their vocation, drug dealers and hackers, in a story that will have you reaching for the tissues to mop up either tears of mirth or heartbreak at multiple points along the way.
Along the way, Cliff also restores balance in his own personal world - learning a lot more about his brother and the truth about his seemingly inexplicable decision to take his own life, as well as managing to fall in love and deal with his abusive father once and for all.
This is such an enjoyable book. The microcosm of Happy Valley High School provides a rich tapestry of life in all its glories and tragedies, and an equally rich smorgasbord of amazing characters. Norton creates vivid personalities that come to life before your eyes, and who will have you cheering them on to the extremely satisfying grand finale. Hugely recommended!

I was given the opportunity to read this ARC and in all honesty I am not sure why I requested it. I read the description but I was not at all sure what to expect. Normally I am not a YA reader, unless I get recommendations by my fellow readers or I read a specific author. The reason being is that I feel every YA book is pretty much a repeat of the previous. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good story about the struggles of being a teenager and surviving the High School years. I am however a bit put out by the stereotypical aspects. The partying and illegal under-age drinking and irresponsible parents who dare leave a teenage son alone at home and in a way allowing them to do those ‘typical’ things teenagers do. This is what I feared I’d get in Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe. I was wrong!

The story follows Cliff, a sixteen-year-old high school student at Happy Valley High School in Happy Valley Montana. Cliff is a loner and at 6’6” and 250lbs he can’t really try to blend with the crowd. He lives in a trailer park with his mother and drunken father. He is struggling with the death of his brother, Shane, who committed suicide. Cliff is trying to understand why his brother did what he did and to make sense of it all.

Aaron Zimmerman is the High School jock. The quarterback of the football team and as cool, handsome and popular as you can imagine. As Cliff sits alone at lunch time he is surprised when Aaron sits with him and tells him that he needs Cliff’s help with a list. Aaron claims he has a list given to him by God. This list was made as a guide to help make Happy Valley High a better place.

Cliff is skeptical at first but then makes this his sole purpose. Together they set out to change the world! Or at least to change HVHS. Maybe it will help Cliff figure out why his brother did what he did.

If you take The Breakfast Club, add a bit of Lucas to it and sprinkle it with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you get Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe! Preston Norton has created a wonderful story of friendship, grief, family and the power we poses to change the world. He tackles the difficult subject of suicide in a subtle way within the story. The characters are quirky and funny. The dialogue and narrative an absolute hit! Each character is memorable and relatable. Cliff is a gentle giant and you will fall in love with him from the very beginning. The supporting characters help develop the story and they grow as the story develops.

I do think the book is a bit long for a YA but the way it is written makes up for it! I was laughing out loud and crying and cheering! Norton’s voice is amazing! It was quite a refreshing story.

I'm torn about this book. The premise is really interesting, but the story itself attempts to take on too many ideas. Our narrator, Clifford Hubbard – otherwise known as "Neanderthal" because of his height – has a hard life. He is constantly teased at school, his brother is dead, and his dad is an abusive drunk. And yet, despite this, I found myself having a hard time warming up to him. The story starts slow, as it's mostly him telling us about himself. There was no real reason to care about him in the beginning because all I knew was that he was really tall, people thought he was stupid, and he had some anger issues of his own. I had a hard time gripping the fact that there were adults in his life that actually treated him the way they did (some staff members, for example). Those interactions seemed a little unrealistic to me, but I see the point it was trying to make. I also got a little irritated by how often Cliff felt the need to remind us about his size.

However, there were good parts of this book too. I especially liked the writing style, even though there were lines of it that felt a tad too forced. I appreciated the humor, though, and I thought Aaron was a really interesting character and loved how Cliff compared him to a real-life Ferris Bueller.

All in all, I'm conflicted about how to review this. It has potential, but I think it's trying to cover too many topics at the same time and it takes too long to care about the main character.

Cliff Hubbard is a 16 year old boy who is 6'6" and 250lbs. He goes to Happy Valley High School where he is not happy. Cruel kids call him Neanderthal because of his size, his dad uses him for a punching bag, he has no friends, his brother and best friend committed suicide, and he has low self esteem.
When I first started reading this book, my heart broke for this boy.
I liked that the most popular boy in school befriended Cliff, even if it was because of a dream.
I think that this book shows that all people have problems, all people hurt even if they don't show it. I hope this book shows kids to try to get to know someone before they start bullying them.
These students want a LGBT group and it caused problems. I think everyone could get along if everyone would try.
The characters are easy to relate to. The characters are likeable. There are some good world building skills, like the trail court and the Monolith that made for easy visualization. This books touches on some difficult subjects. It's eloquently written. The plot is easy to understand. The story flows freely. I enjoyed reading this.
So...What is the meaning of life?

A funny contemporary story with just enough weird mixed in to make things interesting. I really liked that it took on a few topics like bullying and proximity-friendships with a dose of reality rather than preachiness. There's a lot going on in this book, however, and it seemed to try to take on all of the things, so a few of the side-plots fell flat. Fortunately, Cliff's wit hit me exactly right, so I kept reading and I think most fans of Frank Portman or David Lubar will be on board.

Pitch perfect voice that rings so true that it is what carries this book for me and I know it will for my teen readers. From page Cliff is such a well developed, well voiced character that he literally comes off the page and talks. You want to listen. That, combined with the him teaming up with Aaron to bring about change in the school because of a Godly vision? It's just one of those books my book club members are going to be passing along to their friends. This is a must buy to have on my shelves (although I am pretty sure it will spend more time off than on). Again, I must say...voice. It's headed to a favorite read of 2018 and do in no small part to Cliff.

This book will have a wait list in our library. What a fantastic read. I can't wait to share it

Excellent young adult novel on faith, struggling through life, and learning to accept and love one another.

Oh. My. GAWD!!!!!! Go find this book. Like, yesterday! It is so funny and so touching and so lovely! Cliff Hubbard may be my new favorite fictional character. Or maybe Tegan. Or perhaps Noah. They are all so perfectly imperfect and I want to read more about them if possible! This is a special special book.♥

I wish every teen would read this. Everyone should just read it and revel in the perfection that has been achieved here. It's the ideal YA novel.

Norton, Preston Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, 400 pages. Disney, MAY 2018. $18. Content: NC-17

Neanderthal (formerly known as Cliff) is a hulking, outsider presence in his high school. And since his older brother Shane committed suicide he feels left out in his own life. Then school golden child Aaron Zimmerman gets a concussion (not Cliff’s fault) and the first day he is back at school, he tells Cliff that he had a vision from God and the two of them have a list of five tasks in order to improve life for everyone at Happy Valley High School. WHAT?! The odds seem stacked against the pair - and everything they do seems to have the opposite effect. But in little ways things are looking up (Neanderthal has a girlfriend?! Cool!), so the pair persist. But each success leads to another roadblock. It really will take divine intervention to save any of them from themselves.

As I told my husband, I hated this book so much that I can’t wait to read it again. It terms of swearing, mature content, and violence, it earns that NC-17 rating over and over again. I mean. It uses the ‘f’ word 76 times! But I also spent every page laughing out loud, reading passages to my husband, and wanting to cover the pages with highlighter because I was so impressed by the author’s craft. it is so full of heart and raw emotion and I can think of hundreds of students, by name, who would immediately benefit from reading this. What do I do? I do think that Norton could have written the same big without the major content issues - I think that is why I am so mad at it. You (school librarians) are going to have to decide for yourselves whether to add it to your shelves.

HS - OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

Ever read one of those books where you’re only halfway through, but you already want to tell everyone you know to read it? But you can’t at that exact moment in time because you’ve got tears pouring down your face and you can’t find the Kleenex and everyone will want to know if you’re okay?

This is that book.

It’s honest, irreverent, sweet, funny, incredibly sad, and still hopeful.

Some of the characters curse a mile a minute. Some do drugs. You have homophobia, intolerance, and even parental abuse. Yet, it’s such a beautiful story.

Neanderthal (Cliff) and Aaron are just about the most awesome duo in YA lit. Two guys who you would think would never, ever be friends – who end up changing the lives of those around them. I loved the motley crew of kids who join their cause. And I simply loved how everything ended up.

This is an absolute five star read. I want more.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

I have mixed feelings on this one. I enjoyed the writing style (I think that it will take a specific YA reader to really get into it, though), but the plot was just too much and the characters just too little. There seemed to be so little development with Tegan and Aaron-- they were just sort of there, yet huge parts of the story. And I wish the plot had been just a little more focused. From The List to the brain injury to the love story to the heroin sub plot to Shane's death to HAL-- all of it was just a lot with no substance.

NEANDERTHAL OPENS THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSE by Preston Norton turned out to be a delightful book, and a total surprise from what the beginning of the book lead me to expect. Although parts of the book were dark and "dangerous," the cast of characters came together in such a way as to bring a different kind of hope to the story. The large variety of diverse characters were well developed by the author and were so different from each other, yet drawn together by circumstance.As a high school teacher, I don't really believe the teens in the story were as realistic as most of the teens I've known, but they weren't so far different as to not be believable...considering the events in the lives of the main characters. I definitely recommend the book and believe most teens will find the story entertaining and worth their time.

I really enjoyed this book especially the farther I got into it. I think the characters were interesting and sympathetic. I would recommend this to students.

I absolutely LOVED this book!

Cliff, aka Neanderthal, is trying to cope with his brother's suicide and his troubled status as a loser at school. Aaron, the star quarterback, is in a freak accident and awakes from a coma with what he believes is a mission from God, and Cliff is a star player in Aaron's plans.

This book is funny, poignant, sad, and enlightening all at once.

Sixteen-year-old Clifford Hubbard, not-so-affectionately nicknamed "Neanderthal" because of his 6' 6", 250 pound physique, gets recruited (reluctantly) by ultra-popular and cool Aaron Zimmerman, who, after waking from a coma after a boating accident, claims to have seen God and received from him a list of 5 things needed to make Happy Valley High School, Montana, "suck" less (God's word). The campaign involves hilarious dialogue, popular culture and outrageous situations.