Weekly Reads: Reality Boy

 My co-worker has been begging me to read anything and everything by A.S. King for quite some time, and I know with her high regards, I will love everything she has written and have to read everything. immediately. So I've put off starting for awhile. Until now. Reality Boy is A.S. King's most recent YA novel and if it's any indication as to the craziness of King's books, it's safe to say I'm hooked.

Gerald is a child messed up by reality television. And not just because of watching reality television, but because of appearing on a program when he was only five years old. He has incredible rage issues and retreats into his happy place, Gersday, on a regular basis.

This title was not on our Mock Printz list, but I think it is a stronger contender than some of the titles that were on the list. I'll be interested to see if this picks up an honor award.

My rating: 4 stars

Review from goodreads:

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.