Kill Me Now

October 15, 2017
In the summer before high school, a down-on-his-luck outsider turns to the only thing he trusts: his journal. Miles Lover--or Retard, as his "friends" have dubbed him--hates a lot of things: school, his parents, his younger twin sisters, his old house, his neighbors, bodily functions, death, and seemingly everything in between. He takes too many drugs, drinks too much, and skates too hard. The diary structure--and lack of dated entries--evokes the feeling of endless summer that Miles hates so much. The book meanders and unfolds based on whatever Miles feels compelled to divulge at the moment, the short vignettes swinging rapidly from honesty to bluster in true teenage fashion. Sometimes he writes about his recent crush or ruminates on innocuous idioms, and other times he contemplates his parents' divorce and his own mortality. Though Miles loses his temper and never seems to do anything right, Reed (Miraculous Fauna, 2016, etc.) offers empathetic glimpses into his psyche, including his incessant worrying about his mother and tenderness toward animals and nature. Reed convincingly writes a three-dimensional teenager whose self-consciousness, emotions, and hormones threaten to crush him. What Miles wants to do and what he does are constantly at odds; for a boy who always fights with his mother, he surprises himself throughout the book with his caring ("Sometimes after my mother goes to bed, I come and tuck her in for the night"). Near the end of the summer, Miles' luck seems to change when his path crosses with that of his new elderly neighbor, Mister Reese, who his sisters believe is a murderer. The newfound friendship provides some of the most self-aware moments of his summer, which feel not only earned, but necessary. A coming-of-age story capturing male adolescence in all its disgusting, irrational, and messy glory.

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November 6, 2017
The funny if inconsistent latest from Reed (IRL) follows 14-year-old Miles Lover, nicknamed “Retard,” through the summer before he begins high school in Baltimore. Though he has a summer assignment to write an essay about himself, he is distracted by skateboarding, brawling, and obsessing about body parts and effluvia. Meanwhile, his former, empty house offers refuge from his parents’ bitter divorce and the torture inflicted upon him by his younger twin sisters. If it weren’t for Mister Reese, the old man down the street with whom he smokes weed, he’d have no nurturing at all. Miles’s narrative voice is neurotic and funny, but as summer drags on, he has little to do but get in trouble, which can grow tedious. Luckily, his friendship with Mister Reese and Resee’s home health aide, Nurse Brown, adds necessary warmth and provides him with sources of wisdom. Reed captures all the hilarious grossness of being a teenage boy in this solid coming-of-age story.

December 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-The summer before he begins high school, Miles Lover struggles with his parents' divorce, his relationship with twin sisters, crushes, and his less-than-enviable reputation. His parents' old house has not yet been sold and it becomes a place for Miles to escape. A friendly older neighbor at his mother's condo befriends Miles and gives him advice that leads him to rethink who his true friends are. Written in the form of a journal, this novel is highly realistic and will be relatable for many teens. Reed's highly descriptive writing style fully immerses readers in the often gross yet sometimes profound perspective of a 14-year-old boy. While the book certainly does not seem to advocate drug abuse, some readers may be frustrated that Miles's addiction struggles (as well as his mother's) are not adequately addressed within the story. There are several loose ends left dangling and Miles has a lot of growing left to do. Still, this is part of what makes this book unflinchingly realistic. Readers who like fast-paced, plot-driven novels with neat endings should look elsewhere, but those who crave a believable story will not be disappointed. VERDICT A solid addition for libraries in need of realistic fiction.-Emily Butler, Deerfield Academy, MA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2017
Fourteen-year-old Miles has an unfortunate nickname: Retard. He's not quite sure how he got it, but he accepts it, as he acknowledges in the journal he's keeping, which provides the text of this charming novel. In it, he admits to his habit of getting in trouble at school and getting arrested twice. But he's a good kid. It's the summer before high school, and nothing of particular note is happening. Oh, he develops a crush on a 12-year-old girl who is a friend of his twin sisters, watches a ton of TV, smokes a boatload of pot, pops the occasional pill, and hangs out with guys his age who aren't really friendsjust, well, guys. He does make one true friend, though: an elderly neighbor named Mr. Reese, whom his sisters insist is a serial killer but who is, instead, a retired magician. So, pretty ordinary, right? What distinguishes the book is Miles' voice: introspective, self-aware, wry, and honest. Miles never kids himself or the reader or his journal, for that matter. The result is a delightful coming-of-age story that repays the reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)