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Summary
Summary
Hey Aleah,
I miss you. Because there's some serious donkey crap going on right now. I'm supposed to be at football camp, but noooo ... Andrew had to go missing! So because of my stupid little brother, I'll probably lose my chance at a scholarship and end up being nothing special.
I'm pretty sure Andrew ran away to Florida, and now Gus and I have to drive cross-country to get him. Did you know Gus used to think Miss Piggy was hot? Anyway, Andrew once told me I needed to get my head out of my butt. So that's what I'm trying to do. How about a kiss for luck?
Felton
Author Notes
Wee Wisconsin boy, Geoff Herbach wanted to play for the Green Bay Packers or join The Three Stooges. His tight hamstrings left him only writing. Now he teaches at Minnesota State, Mankato where he blows his students' minds with tales of football and comedy glory, none of which are true. Visit www.geoffherbach.com.
Reviews (3)
Booklist Review
In this sequel to Stupid Fast (2011), Felton Reinstein, whose athletic prowess stunned himself, his family, and his classmates, once again narrates a saga of discovery. This time the focus is on younger brother Andrew, whose life in the football phenom's shadow is dreary. When Felton figures out his bro has absconded to Florida in lieu of orchestra camp, he takes his own road trip to right his wrong of being too wrapped up in himself. On the way he reconnects with old friend Gus and with his dead father's family. Felton and Andrew are both appealing you gotta love a runaway who finds his niche playing piano for the Golden Rods (seniors who sing Beach Boys standards) and attempts to know his estranged grandfather by hiding in plain sight, playing tennis in 1970s whites complete with a terry headband. Readers who like their funny stories mixed with sports (Felton waxes rhapsodic over Ultimate Frisbie) will root for the siblings' reconciliation. While the novel can stand alone, it'll be more accessible to kids who've read its predecessor.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-In this series, Felton Reinstein must come to grips with heartbreak, dysfunction, hope, and his own unexpected transformation from nebbish to gifted athlete. As in Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown, 2007), Felton's family problems and personal anxieties are deeply felt but leavened considerably by his wry, self-deprecating narration. Audio version for Stupid Fast available from Recorded Books. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Over the course of a cataclysmically awful trip, Felton Reinstein journals for his girlfriend about breakthroughs in his familial relationships. Last year, at 15, nerdy Felton hit a growth spurt and became Stupid Fast (2011), a track star and a football star. This year, with his girlfriend Aleah in Germany, Felton must deal with his fame and the possibility that his younger brother Andrew could be falling apart. Andrew has convinced their mother to let him go to band camp, but Felton discovers that Andrew, usually the sane member of the family, has in fact run away to Florida. An impromptu road trip with erstwhile best friend Gus turns up surprising reasons for Andrew's escape. Herbach's sophomore effort is impenetrable to those who have not read his first, due to a complete lack of character introductions. The conceit of telling the tale of the road trip while on a different trip is a convoluted one that buries the heart of this potentially touching tale in a flabby, confusing construct few readers will enjoy. Felton's voice is frenetic, often annoyingly self-deprecating and repetitious; his fans are the only ones who need apply. If Herbach had avoided playing narrative games and just run with his story, this might have been something special. (Fiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
August 20th, 1:33 a.m. Bluffton, WIM
Hey, Aleah, I just thought I'd drop this in, because it's sort of interesting to know what Andrew was thinking back in January, before he got messed up. From his blog at feltonreistein.com:
Felton is Number 2!
"Reinstein is the rarest of athletes, a freak of nature with great size and speed combined with crazy-quick animal reflexes. That Reinstein has played just one season of organized football should strike fear in the hearts of coming opponents and has already caused seismic recruiting efforts among collegiate programs across the nation."-Wisconsin State Journal
You probably already know this, but Felton has been deemed the #2 sports story in the state of Wisconsin for the year (right behind the Green Bay Packers' mid-season resurgence-I had no idea they had gone downhill ever-I pay no attention to professional athletics).
We had six State Journal newspapers jammed in our door, and Felton had approximately ten million voice mail messages from people wanting to congratulate him.
Did Felton celebrate this coverage? Not at all. He went running for about ten minutes. Then he came back because he kept falling down in the snow. (Snow hasn't stopped him before, I promise you.) He watched TV for ten minutes and groaned about how he'd seen every COPS episode ever made. Then he went to bed. It's not even dinnertime yet.
Jerri is concerned for him. I suppose he is feeling pressure. Why, though? He likes playing football. He just has to do what he likes. That is easy.
Jerri is making him some hamburgers for dinner. She's a terrible cook. Maybe he'll sleep through it? I won't, unfortunately.
Happy New Year!
-Andrew
Excerpted from Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
