Friday Memes: The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle. 276 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March 29, 2016. 9781481455480.

Publisher synopsis: From the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Five, Six, Seven, Nate! andBetter Nate Than Ever comes a laugh-out-loud sad YA debut that’s a wry and winning testament to the power of old movies and new memories—one unscripted moment at a time.

Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old smart aleck and Hollywood hopeful whose only worry usedto be writing convincing dialogue for the movies he made with his sister Annabeth. Of course, that was all before—before Quinn stopped going to school, before his mom started sleeping on the sofa…and before Annabeth was killed in a car accident.

Enter Geoff, Quinn’s best friend who insists it’s time that Quinn came out—at least from hibernation. One haircut later, Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a guy—a hot one—and falls hard. What follows is an upside-down week in which Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually have a happily-ever-after ending—if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.

First Line: I don't consider myself to be precious, necessarily, but give me air-conditioning or give me death.

Page 56: "Quinny," Mom says, her forehead in a twist. "Why would you throw away all this good food?"

     I pull out a Cocoa Krispies box out of the Hefty bag and shake it. There is a delayed response from inside, the cereal ca-chunking against the box like it's been awakened from the terrible reality of being, well, Cocoa Krispies.

     "I don't know if we can call this food 'good,' Mama."

     "But that was her favorite."
     
     I lower the box. I stick my head into the Hefty. She's right. I've just completely disrupted the museum that was Annabeth's life. Shit.

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It is no secret that I absolutely adore this kid and everything he writes. His visit to my school coincidentally occurred the day after he won both a Stonewall Honor and an Odyssey Honor for his debut middle grade novel, Better Nate Than Ever! He was promoting the release of its sequel, Five, Six, Seven, Nate! which was just as heartwarming. He has published several drink recipe books for adults, which includes one board book, Hickory, Daiquiri Dock, which is now my stock gift for all new parents in my life. But wait! He also wrote a picture book called Tommy Can't Stop about a little boy who can't stop bouncing and leaping. The Great American Whatever is his YA debut. I picked up the arc at AASL15 in Columbus, Ohio a few weeks ago and shared these photos in a previous blog post:

The book was blurbed by Rob Thomas, has already received a starred review from Booklist and this fantastic review from Reading Rants. Oh! I just noticed that Tim is narrating the audiobook. He is also a talented narrator, as evidenced by his two Odyssey Honors for his performances of his Nate books. This past summer I read Ann Bausum's Stonewall with my ears only because he was the narrator. I have pre-ordered both a hardcover copy and the audiobook of The Great American Whatever. Don't miss this multitalented artist.