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14-year-old Kevin has a talent he’s very proud of: telling lies. In fact, he thinks that by lying about everything, he makes his life easier; after all, he tells people what they want to hear and he often gets his way.
Then Kevin begins to push his luck when he goes from telling small lies to telling huge lies, and things start to get a little messy. For example, to get out of doing his share of a school project, he doesn’t just tell his partner that he’s not feeling well—he tells her that he suf ...more
Then Kevin begins to push his luck when he goes from telling small lies to telling huge lies, and things start to get a little messy. For example, to get out of doing his share of a school project, he doesn’t just tell his partner that he’s not feeling well—he tells her that he suf ...more
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Good-hearted Kevin is a compulsive liar. Mostly he lies to spare people's feelings and avoid conflict. Until he notices Tina, a girl he has known since kindergarten, but has suddenly transformed into the most beautiful person Kevin has ever laid eyes upon. Now Kevin begins lying to everyone about everything in order to put himself closer to Tina and prove that he is "boyfriend" material. Of course, Kevin digs himself in a little too deep and all of his lying eventually catches up with him.
While ...more
While ...more
School story. 14-year-old boy. Fast-talking kid with great, and I mean great, self-esteem who gets his comeuppance after a week of attempted self-promotion, lightweight subterfuge, and ace finagling both in school and out just to get a girl to like him. Add to that a bit of home trouble and it's a very readable story.
Paulsen introduces the story and the narrator does a good job.
Too bad our library system put this one on the children's shelves. It's definitely YA in its subject matter. Now that I ...more
Paulsen introduces the story and the narrator does a good job.
Too bad our library system put this one on the children's shelves. It's definitely YA in its subject matter. Now that I ...more
this book is generating very divergent views, and I bet it will among students as well. I didn't particularly care for it. I found the secondary characters to be quite flat and stereotypical, especially Kevin's study partner. I wonder if it was hard for me to connect to an unreliable narrator, but it seemed more that it was hard for me to feel much emotional depth. I do think the other thing was that I went into reading this book thinking it would work for my 4th and 5th graders (cover, size, fo
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A fun quick read that makes you think. Also some good insight on the kid's perspective of divorce.
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Not bad. Predictable, and I think I wanted this book to be a little longer to flesh things out a bit, but enjoyable enough.
Great fun quick book that would be good for both boys and girls!
Enjoyed it. More of a middle school book.
Sort of funny. Sort of heartfelt. Sort of rote. A quick pick for reluctant readers maybe.
Excellent narration with just the right amount of self important ego twisted attitude. Perfect resolution in the end, like Gordon Korman. More appropriate for middle school, but 5th grade ok, too.
Paulsen is a master of funny....this book is a laugh-out-loud quick read, especially recommended for middle school boys.
RL 940
Jul 24, 2012
Kathy
marked it as to-read
