Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Goi
Genres
Collection
Publication
HMH Books for Young Readers (2010), Edition: Reprint, 320 pages
Description
After getting in trouble yet again, popular high school senior Liam, who never seems to live up to his wealthy father's expectations, is sent to live in a trailer park with his gay "glam-rocker" uncle.
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member jenniferthomp75
Liam Geller is a mess. Getting caught with a girl in his father's home office (while drunk) is the last straw for his hard-nosed CEO father. After his father kicks him out, his ex-supermodel mom arranges for his father's estranged brother, a gay glam rock DJ, to house him for "a little
Although this book isn't my favorite Going novel, it has its charms. Liam is a sympathetic character, but it's his uncle and his friends that I gravitated toward. I enjoyed how Going challenges stereotypical behaviors of gay vs. straight men without pushing it on the reader.
It's also interesting that this is the 2nd book written in 2009 that has a not-so-bright teen as its protagonist. Since 2008 seemed to be the year of overly smart teen characters, maybe 2009 is the year that will embrace the rest!
Show More
while."Although this book isn't my favorite Going novel, it has its charms. Liam is a sympathetic character, but it's his uncle and his friends that I gravitated toward. I enjoyed how Going challenges stereotypical behaviors of gay vs. straight men without pushing it on the reader.
It's also interesting that this is the 2nd book written in 2009 that has a not-so-bright teen as its protagonist. Since 2008 seemed to be the year of overly smart teen characters, maybe 2009 is the year that will embrace the rest!
Show Less
LibraryThing member ForeignCircus
When Mr. Popularity Liam Geller's type-A dad kicks him out of the house, Liam goes to live with his cross-dressing uncle Pete in a trailer park upstate. As Liam struggles to change, to be unpopular, his uncle battles to help him be true to himself in the face of parental disapproval.
Based on the
I read this book from start to finish in one evening- it is just that powerful a novel. This book was moving and raw and at times absurd- just like the life of an average teenager. Highly recommended!
Based on the
Show More
flap copy, I thought this book would be funny and poignant- a great light read. Though it was in fact funny and poignant, it was also a painfully raw look parental mental abuse at its worst. I was shocked and appalled that Liam's mother stood by as his father attempted to crush every spark of life and humanity from his son, pandering to his egotistical need to recreate his son in his own image. I read this book from start to finish in one evening- it is just that powerful a novel. This book was moving and raw and at times absurd- just like the life of an average teenager. Highly recommended!
Show Less
LibraryThing member bigorangemichael
Liam Gellar's father is a successful business man and his mother a world-renowned model. Given that combination of genes, Liam should have the world at his feet. And in some areas, he does. When it comes to being popular and well-liked by his peers, he excels. When it comes to his classes, his
Instead of going to live with his strict grandparents, Liam opts to move in with his Uncle Pete, a local DJ with his own glam rock band who is estranged from his father. The estrangement comes from Uncle Pete's lifestyle and an incident years before when Pete embarrassed Liam's father at an important social event.
Liam moves in with Pete, determined to start over and prove himself to be the son his father wants him to be. However, things don't go exactly as planned.
"King of the Screwups" is the story of Liam and his struggle to find out who he is. It's also the story about Liam accepting who he is and realizing that he may never be able to fully please his father--and that's OK. Told in the first-person perspective, K.L. Boing gives us the unique insight into Liam's current situation and offers flashbacks of some of Liam's more memorable incidents growing up. All of this helps make Liam a rich, fascinating character and the world he inhabits is filled with others, including his Uncle Pete and his friends.
Where the novel struggles is in the relationship between Liam and his next door neighbor. Liam struggles to win the approval of the girl next door, who is exactly the kind of kid his father would want. The story has Liam desperately seeking her attention and approval, but it doesn't really examine the relationship much deeper than that and, in the end, it rings a bit hollow. The ending of the story seems a bit forced as well, with several threads coming to a head in a manner that doesn't feel as natural. It almost feels as if they decided it was time to wrap things up in the story instead of allowing the story to continue to unfold at its own natural pace.
In some ways, it opens up things for a potential sequel. I wouldn't mind spending some time with Liam and the rest of the characters from this story.
Show More
grades and pleasing his father, well, let's just say he's coming up a bit short. Liam is hard on himself, constantly seeking his father's approval and never quite succeeded. This leads to Liam thinking of himself as a screw-up. It also leads to Liam driving his father crazy and getting kicked out of the house.Instead of going to live with his strict grandparents, Liam opts to move in with his Uncle Pete, a local DJ with his own glam rock band who is estranged from his father. The estrangement comes from Uncle Pete's lifestyle and an incident years before when Pete embarrassed Liam's father at an important social event.
Liam moves in with Pete, determined to start over and prove himself to be the son his father wants him to be. However, things don't go exactly as planned.
"King of the Screwups" is the story of Liam and his struggle to find out who he is. It's also the story about Liam accepting who he is and realizing that he may never be able to fully please his father--and that's OK. Told in the first-person perspective, K.L. Boing gives us the unique insight into Liam's current situation and offers flashbacks of some of Liam's more memorable incidents growing up. All of this helps make Liam a rich, fascinating character and the world he inhabits is filled with others, including his Uncle Pete and his friends.
Where the novel struggles is in the relationship between Liam and his next door neighbor. Liam struggles to win the approval of the girl next door, who is exactly the kind of kid his father would want. The story has Liam desperately seeking her attention and approval, but it doesn't really examine the relationship much deeper than that and, in the end, it rings a bit hollow. The ending of the story seems a bit forced as well, with several threads coming to a head in a manner that doesn't feel as natural. It almost feels as if they decided it was time to wrap things up in the story instead of allowing the story to continue to unfold at its own natural pace.
In some ways, it opens up things for a potential sequel. I wouldn't mind spending some time with Liam and the rest of the characters from this story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
Liam screws up everything he does. The things he does well are all worthless, according to his father. Finally, his father throws him out of the house, and Liam goes to live with his gay uncle Peter who hasn't spoken to his brother in years. Liam learns about choices, responsibility and living with
Show More
what he is, rather than what his father thinks he should be. Show Less
LibraryThing member helgagrace
Liam always seems to be screwing things up, but when his businessman father catches him making out with a girl on the desk in his office, he finally gets kicked out of the house. Instead of going to his uptight grandparents in Nevada, however, Liam's mother (who used to be a famous runway model,
What I liked about this book the most was Liam's character. When he is being himself, he loves clothes, loves modeling, and cares about other people. It's also nice that Uncle Pete's gayness (and the sexuality of his bandmates), rather than being a major focus, is downplayed. I felt the book cried out for a sequel--will Liam get together with Darleen? Will Liam's mother ever leave his father? What is Liam going to do with his life? I hope he will become a world-famous model!
Show More
and has passed all her knowledge and beauty to her son) arranges for him to stay with his cross-dressing, glam-rocker uncle Pete, who lives in a trailer in upstate New York. Liam decides that in order to win his father's approval, he needs to be something other than the "popular kid" he's always been in the past. Despite his keen fashion sense and designer clothes, he tries dressing in Pete's t-shirts, reads the morning announcements, and generally acts as "uncool" as he can manage. Fortunately for him, his plan backfires in a variety of spectacular ways, and he learns that it might just be better to be himself than try to please his father (who is, frankly, an abusive jerk).What I liked about this book the most was Liam's character. When he is being himself, he loves clothes, loves modeling, and cares about other people. It's also nice that Uncle Pete's gayness (and the sexuality of his bandmates), rather than being a major focus, is downplayed. I felt the book cried out for a sequel--will Liam get together with Darleen? Will Liam's mother ever leave his father? What is Liam going to do with his life? I hope he will become a world-famous model!
Show Less
LibraryThing member twonickels
When Liam is assigned an essay on his greatest talent, there is no question in his mind what he will write about. There’s one thing in life that he can do better than anyone else: screw up. Even when Liam TRIES to screw up, he screws that up. He’s the King of the Screwups. And so it’s no big
Show More
shock to Liam when his ultra-successful type-A dad finally sends him away. It is, however, a shock that he’s going to live in a trailer park with his cross-dressing, glam-rocking Aunt Pete.When Liam gets to his new home, he does everything he can to reinvent himself in the image of his father. He wants so badly to be studious, brilliant in school, and as unpopular as possible in the hopes of gaining his father’s love. But things don’t go quite as he planned it - his grades aren’t exactly improving, the head cheerleader is taking quite an interest in him, and in a hysterical scene he somehow manages to make the A.V. Club hip. This is a tough book in that it looks like a light screwball comedy, and a lot of it reads that way, but at the heart of the story is an abusive relationship between a parent and a child. It is never physically abusive, but there is no question that Liam’s treatment by his father - and to some extent his mother as well - is mentally and emotionally abusive. Liam’s complete lack of faith in himself, and his willingness to dismiss his considerable talents, are a direct result of that treatment. Fortunately, taking Liam away from his parents puts him in the care of a new group of people who are willing to see the great things about Liam. Aunt Pete and his band buddies have a tough line to walk - Liam is not open to hearing negative things about his dad or positive things about himself, and Pete does not have any experience with teenage boys. But they are a strong, thoughtful, supportive group of guys. And when they finally latch on to Liam’s love for fashion, they are able to help him find the good in himself. Liam is a likeable guy - sometimes almost in spite of himself. And while it hurts to hear his skewed self-perceptions, he is a pleasure to get to know. With Liam and her other characters, K.L. Going presents people who cheerfully defy their first-impression stereotypes. Once again, Going has given us a winner. Show Less
LibraryThing member edspicer
I would recommend this. The book was good because Liam, the main character, gets in trouble a lot. He tries not to, but he can't help it.
3Q, 3P; Cover Art: Okay.
This book is best suited for higschoolers.
It was selected because it was a reminder of oneself, and it looked good.
Grade (of reviewer):
(JF-AHS-NC)
3Q, 3P; Cover Art: Okay.
This book is best suited for higschoolers.
It was selected because it was a reminder of oneself, and it looked good.
Grade (of reviewer):
Show More
10th(JF-AHS-NC)
Show Less
LibraryThing member TigerLMS
Liam Geller seems to have it all. Immense popularity, good looks, a supermodel mom, a rich genius CEO dad. What he can't seem to get is his father's approval. When his dad catches Liam with a barely-clothed girl on his dad's office desk, his dad declares Liam banished from the household. Rather
Show More
than live with his crodgy grandparents, Liam arranges to move in with his mom's estranged brother, the cross-dressing lead singer of a failed glam-rock cover band who lives in a trailer. "Aunt" Pete is a culture shock for Liam, but it is there that he discovers what is important. A laugh-out-loud story with characters that any high school student can relate to. Show Less
LibraryThing member kissmeimgone
K. L. Goings has once again written an excellent YA novel. This book introduces Liam Geller, who's parents are famous and his dad never fails to let his son know how much of a disappointment he is to him. Finally having had enough after one too many drunken parties, his dad kicks him out and he's
Liam learns to accept himself how he truly is, and despite what his dad always tells him, that he isn't a screw up at all, just simply,
Liam. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good YA novel.
Show More
sent to live with his uncle Peter who's gay, in a glam rock bank and lives in a trailer in the middle of BFE practically. Along the way,Liam learns to accept himself how he truly is, and despite what his dad always tells him, that he isn't a screw up at all, just simply,
Liam. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good YA novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mtlkch
Loved this book. Great story about learning to accept yourself for who you are.
Pages
320