Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately it’s not the book for me. DNF @ 21%.

Josh, also known as Bugboy, is friends with a group of "Defectives" in a New Jersey school in the early 1960's. When Ashleigh first comes to sit at his table for lunch, he can't see any visible defects and is sure that it's a trick being played on them by the "Normals." But Ashleigh has her own issues and insists she belongs with their group. Their friendship unfolds over the years, and Josh soon learns for himself why she feels the way she does.

I first read this book when it was still titled The Girl With Brazil Nut Eyes, as Ashleigh has wide, expressive eyes that Josh frequently describes as Brazil nut eyes. With either title, it's Ashleigh that's the focal point of the story, not Josh, even though he's the narrator. She's a clever girl with psychiatric issues, which is portrayed in a very unflinching and honest way. It's often the punchline or a plot point, as opposed to simply another facet about Ashleigh that we get to know, like her eye shape. Josh has a crush on her, but their friendship is important to him and is beautifully written. The end of the story is a surprise so that it's almost a sucker punch after being lulled into a complacent coming of age story.

All of the characters here were fun to read about, even the ones that Josh doesn't discuss at length. Every teen will recognize pieces of themselves in Josh and his friends, as being an awkward teenager is universal and not just part of the 60's. If not for the Kennedy assassination mentioned in the text, as a matter of fact, this is a story that could take place in almost any decade.

Is Bugboy his real name? He is called this by everyone. At first he didn't like it, but then later he was okay with it, at school, he sits in the lunch room with the "defectives" which they call themselves. When a new girl sits at their table, he tells her she doesn't belong at this table. She disagrees and becomes part of them. Ashleigh (the new girl) and Bugboy becomes best friend. They walk to his home after school and do their homework in his bedroom. Then he walks her home. When Ashleigh is rushed to the hospital one night, she has to have emergency surgery. The doctors discover that Ashleigh has been cutting herself so she is sent to the psych ward. She is devastated when the kids at school found out and the bully teases her about it. Meanwhile Bugboy is given a scholarship to a school that will help develop his art skills. He decides to go after Ashleigh and others encourage him to go. He has to stay at the school. One night he receives a phone call that upsets him.

This is a book with many different topics touched upon such as being "crazy," having something that makes a person different from others, bullying, and true friendship. The novel is told through Bugboy's eyes. I found the novel engrossing and could not stop reading or thinking about it. The author has written an absorbing story. It needs to be read by adults too as I feel that it will help adults understan
d teenage angst. Don't miss out!!

This novel is a sweet—though almost traumatic—review of the coming of age journey of Josh, aka Bugboy. The focal point of the story is not the narrator, but rather his long-term crush, Ashleigh. A cast of friends that Josh lovingly calls “The Defectives” helps to flesh-out the story. Although she bears no visible issues, Ashleigh insists that she belongs to this group of defectives. High points and low points in the relationship between Josh and Ashleigh, the girl with brazil nut eyes, converge to one very unexpected climax. (The entire book felt as if it could be based on real events. I kept thinking about youths I have known who have had some of the same issues in their lives—making me wonder how and where they are now.). What a touching story!

2.5 stars....
First of all, I couldn't find this on goodreads, maybe that's why so few knows it... And I've read it like couple of weeks ago and was waiting for it to show up on goodreads so I can add it on my Reading Challenge there.

Here's the thing about this novel, you have to read it with the right headspace for this kind of story. No, story isnt the right term NARRATION is. This is one of those flashback narrations told by someone who is reminiscing, reflecting on what happened to his life back then and hoping it might teach people in some way. Only this novel, BUGBOY is telling us the story about when he was fourteen and met this girl Ashleigh.

The reason why I gave this 2.5 stars because of its simplicity and as I said I was in the right headspace to read this kind of novels. But its simplicity is also its problem. It's just a story told by someone. Nothing actually interesting in the novel that might give impact to the reader. And that's a problem because flashbacks should be about giving an impact to the reader maybe learned from it or I don't know, cry for that part of the narrator's life was gone. I think the problem is the book didn't deliver in it's full potential.

It could be better. :)

At the start of this tale, we aren't told the narrator's age, but it doesn't take long to figure out that "Bugboy" is an adult telling the story of his teen years and how he came to know Ashleigh. Being the object of Bugboy's affection, Ashleigh is prominent throughout the book as are our narrator's group of friends. The biggest problem for this reader was that the entire story reads like an embellished memory - we're being told the story of this fellow's teen years, but there's little in the way of showing to draw a reader into the story. Even with the disconnection, I did keep reading, but it was more out of curiosity about where this story was going than anything else. What I found was a whole lot about baseball, a couple of math lessons, and a young girl who is seen through the rose-colored glasses of an admirer. The story does have some tragedy, but that disconnection I spoke of keeps it more in the abstract than it should've been.
In the end, the story comes across as a long-winded memory with a few interesting bits thrown in.