Cover Image: Smooth

Smooth

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Member Reviews

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

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Thank you to Candlewick Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this book. It is such a valuable gift you offer educators!

I really enjoyed Matt Burns' story. He's got a gift for humor, and there were many times I really did snicker/snort/chuckle/laugh out loud. How DO you know if you're a teenager like Holden Caulfield or just a run-of-the-mill pompous jackass? Matt does a beautiful job of explaining the inner (over) workings of a teenager's mind. His descriptions, especially of young people's discomfort and bodily function, are so spot on - often gross, but spot on!

The end wraps up pretty neatly, but I think it works. After a long angst-filled journey, it was a satisfying pay off.

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Honestly, the book was very creepy. The main character gives off a very stalker vibe which make it difficult to like, let alone relate to him. The premise of this book sounded interesting, but the overall turnout was very disappointing.

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Smooth is the story of fifteen year old Kevin who is struggling with devastating acne and self esteem issues. When Kevin gets prescribed Accutane by his dermatologist he meets Alex at his monthly required blood testing. Kevin begins to spiral into fantasies about what it would be like if Alex became his first girlfriend. Struggling to stay connected with his two best friends that have made new friends on the football team and with the possible side effects of the Accutane, Kevin becomes withdrawn and moody while trying to maneuver through the regular trials and tribulation of high school. There are many references to masturbation and penis jokes, but in the midst of all the boy bathroom humor and antics there is a message of learning to accept yourself and all your flaws realizing that our family and friends are much more forgiving than we are of ourselves.

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Thanks to Candlewick Press for providing an E ARC of Smooth in exchange for an honest review.

Very few books have made me feel this uncomfortable.

Have you read/seen You? The majority of Smooth reads like that. Kevin is creepy. He decides he's in love with his love interest after making eye contact, steals her earbuds before exchanging a word, and spends the next month obsessing over her and collecting as much information as possible so that he can quote a movie the song she was listening to is from. He decides who Alex is from 2 seconds of eye contact and willingly ignores any detail to the contrary. It's an obsession.

Technically, the last act of Smooth realizes this. All at once he seems to realize Alex is actually a human being and apologizes to everyone and everything's okay. He was on medication after all, and it made him depressed. He knows better now. But does he? Technically, Kevin doesn't get the girl, but I argue he still does. He kind of apologizes but mainly for being jealous, not all the weird stalk-y stuff and Alex reveals that she wanted to be his friend in the first place because she guessed at his depression. Kevin remarks that he knows she'll always be there for him. He might not romantically end up with Alex, but he still gets the girl. I think its telling that the only part of that conversation that is told through narration instead of speech is when Kevin supposedly is listening to Alex talk about her own life and problems.

The fact is, despite what this book tries to achieve, I don't see many readers getting this far unless they relate with Kevin. He's an impossible to root for character unless you to get angry when people don't live up to your mental image of them while you creepily watch them from afar. And if you get to the whole "I realize I was wrong" part, it honestly read more like Kevin getting absolved. The message isn't "don't be a creep" its "as long as you're nice enough after being a creep, you can still hang out with your crush". Which... yikes.

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This book was laugh out loud funny and perfect for teens, especially reluctant male readers. While heavy on masturbation jokes and maybe a bit too long, I think this book perfectly encapsulates the male teenager mind!

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Kevin is starting tenth grade, and has been battling horrible cystic acne. At his doctor's appointment right before the school year starts, he mentions taking Accutane to his doctor. There are a lot of conditions to taking the drug, which has serious side effects, but Kevin's acne is so painful and disfiguring that he is willing to take the chances, and doesn't mind filling out forms and having his blood tested once a month. He doesn't want to tell his good friends Luke and Will about this, since he feels they would just give him a hard time. While the three are supposed to be working on a story telling project for language arts, and start with the idea of doing a horror slasher film. At his first blood test appointment, Kevin meets a girl who is also getting treatment for her own acne, and although he doesn't have the nerve to speak with her, he does get her name and picks up her ear buds when she leaves them behind. He feels like Alex might be a kindred spirit, and is soon obsessed with thoughts of her, and what he might say to her the next time they meet. Kevin has somewhat typical 15 year old boy interests,most of which he tries to hide from his parents, and it'snot a surprise that he has underplayed the seriousness of the Accutane as well. As the school year progresses, he starts to feel that Luke and Will are somewhat jerky, thinks that he might be interested in a girl named Emma, has ups and downs in his relationship with Alex, especially when she transfers to his school, and begins to have mood swings that become very serious, and are no doubt tied to the Accutane. When he is helping his younger sister Kate with some of her middle school problems, he realizes that how he is feeling really is very serious, and takes steps to reach out to people in his life and get himself help.

Strengths: The teen boy voice in this was so painfully realistic that I wonder if this is based on the author's own experiences, especially since this is set in 2007. Kevin is a good kid; at one point, he skips going out with his friends to plan his homework for the quarter. He also is quite frank about the private interests of his age group in quite vivid detail, which is why it would be awkward for me to hand this to students. His slow descent into depression is done well. We see him being irritated with people in his life, and he then spirals deeper and deeper into his own thoughts. These changes in tone take place halfway through the book, so readers who don't make it that far miss the hard hitting reality of this title. Teacher and librarians who adored Niven's All the Bright Places or Green's Turtles All the Way Down need to take a look at this book, and remember that the gross bits about acne, horror movies, masturbation, etc. are what will get the fifteen year old boys to read this book and learn from this book it in a way that they might not enjoy or learn from other YA mental health titles. I can imagine many of my readers enjoying this when they are in high school.
Weaknesses: So many f-bombs and private details. This was hard for me to read. I almost want a "young readers edition" so that I can have it in a middle school library.
What I really think: This was such an absorbing read that I couldn't put it down even when I realized I wouldn't be buying it. I am definitely going to recommend that the high school libraries in my district buy it.

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