by K. L. Going
First published 2013
Troy Billings weighs 296 pounds and has no friends. At seventeen, he feels so miserable that he stands on a New York subway platform, ready to step in front of an oncoming train. Then Curt MacCrae appears. Curt is skinny, almost homeless, and dropped out of high school. He plays guitar like a genius and belongs to the Lower East Side punk rock scene. Curt decides Troy should become his drummer, even though Troy has never touched a drum kit. Troy's father suspects Curt uses drugs. Troy's brother considers Troy the biggest failure in Manhattan. None of this stops Curt from pulling Troy into his world. Troy must learn to play drums while navigating his new friendship with someone his family distrusts. The partnership between the overweight, suicidal teenager and the street-smart musician promises to transform both the punk scene and Troy's sense of himself.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, adolescence
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Paperback · Corgi Childrens
Content warnings: depression, suicide