Stupid Fast

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach is the suggested book for grades 8 and above for the Global Read Aloud project.  I do not know a lot about 8th grade and above content but I am going to do my best to summarize the book, suggest some Common Core standards that the book addresses and end with some activities that you could do with other classrooms either through twitter, blogs or Skype.  Today, I will start with the summary.

I would describe Stupid Fast as a coming of age novel.  The main character, Felton Reinstein is going through puberty and he has hit his growth spurt fast.  Before his growth spurt Felton was your average nobody in school.  He lived with his mom and younger brother (his dad had committed suicide when he was 5). Felton only had a couple of friends, was often made fun of and had nicknames like Squirrel Nuts and Rein Stone. Then he became fast, really fast, or as the author might say, stupid fast.  He went out for the track team and really enjoyed running until he got disqualified at regionals.  Then it was summer.  Over the course of the summer Felton grew even more, his best friend left for Venezuela and his mom started going crazy.  Through out the book Felton is learning how to deal with finding out who he is and what he is good at doing.  He is also struggling with his confidence and self-esteem (which any teenager can relate to).  He decides to try out for the football team, mostly so he can get out of the house away from his mom and brother and also meets a girl.

As Felton beings working out, making friends and getting faster Felton's mom is getting crazier and crazier.  She will not buy groceries, clean the house or even get out of bed.  Felton wants to hide this from everyone because he is finally making friends and becoming likable.  To cope with all the issues going on in his head he begins running, and this is where he truly comes to peace with himself and what is going on, until his mom tells him something that makes him hit rock bottom.  Lucky for Felton he has friends and family that love and support him during this hard time.

This is a great book to read aloud for 8th grade and above because it is written in first person and Felton has great voice.  You really catch onto his personality and his quirks because Herbach does such a great job developing him.  Also, the themes are abundant in this book.  Everything from you won't be happy until you find what makes you happy to themes around friends and family.  It would be interesting to see what 8th graders pick out as themes of this novel.  Be aware, there is some offensive language in this book so if that is a problem in your classroom you might want to steer away from this novel.

Mostly, because I didn't want the post to be too long I am going to stop with just the summary today.  Tomorrow, check out what standards can be taught using this book.

Have a great Friday and Happy Reading!
Laura