Youth in Revolt Book Review

Youth in Revolt Book Review 

About the Book: The hilarious, take-no-prisoners novel about a cynical, sex-obsessed teenager's pining love for an intelligent girl– now a major motion picture from Dimension Films starring Michael Cera

SIX MONTHS IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS TEENAGER

Youth in Revolt is the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming fourteen-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt. As his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, the gulag of the public schools, a competitive type-A father, murderous canines, and an inconvenient hair trigger on his erectile response–all while vying ardently for the affections of the beauteous Sheeni Saunders, teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad.


Our Take: When this book came out back in the mid-1990s I had heard of it, but never picked it up.  I find that rather sad now, because as it turns out it would have appealed to me more back then even than now.  It may have even been theraputic.

Obviously you've heard of this film by now, thanks to the highly publicized film starring Michael Cera (Juno).  A lot of uproar has existed around this book from parents about how appropriate it may or may not be for a teenager to actually read.  Our feeling is that its actually great for them.  It discusses things like masturbation, sexual fantasy and aggression in hilarious and relatable ways.  I think that so many authors miss the mark when trying to relate to a teenager, but it seems that C.D. Payne really understands the teen male psyche and can get inside their heads.  Your teenager may laugh and relate to this title and honestly to find anything a teenager can relate to is a miracle, isn't it?

What if you're not a teenager?  Is this book for you?  Of course it is.  While this book can appeal to teens, its not necessarily meant for teens.  We were all teenagers once and I think that there is enough accessibility in this story to draw almost anyone in.   The book is written in the form of journal entries, so it can be a little hard to get used to the format at first, but once you get into it you'll wish the book was longer!

...and you get your wish, because C.D. Payne wrote a sequel to the book called 'Revolting Youth' and we'll be posting a review of that soon.  We highly recommend this title.

How to Buy: You can get this one on Amazon.com or on the Broadway Publishing Site