Carter Finally Gets It

by Brent Crawford

Overview

Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.)

Here are five things you should know about him:

1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.

2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day unless he gets distracted.

3. He's a virgin, mostly because he's no good at talking to girls (see number 1).

4. He's about to start high school.

5. He's totally not ready.

Join Carter for his freshman year, where he'll search for sex, love, and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he'll almost kill a trombone player, face off with his greatest nemesis, suffer a lot of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), get caught up in a messy love triangle, meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprise the hell out of everyone, including himself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423140894
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/21/2010
Series:	A Carter Novel
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	995,896
File size:	408 KB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Brent Crawford was born in Kansas but moved to LA and then New York to pursue an acting career. He has worked in theatre, film, TV, and commercials (check him out on IMDB.com). He’s written numerous plays and scripts, as well as waited tables, bartended, sold hardware and clothing, worked construction, and even dumped airplane toilets (where do you think it goes?). He’s now a full-time writer, back in Kansas.
This is Brent’s first young adult novel.

Editorial Reviews

"All I think about is girls, and I don't do anything about it," laments Carter at the beginning of this true-to-life, edgy and often hilarious debut novel. The first-person narrative nails the voice of an earnest-and hyper-active-teen starting freshman year with big aspirations and considerable anxiety. Carter's priority is finding a girlfriend, a mission he comically bungles at numerous junctures-"This isn't Queer Eye. Back off, you stalker!" he chastises himself after drowning a girl in compliments. In one telling scene, Carter attends his first high school party, confident that this will be the night he'll have sex, yet scales back his expectations dramatically as he tries to fight back tears when a senior steals his bike ("No, no, no crying! There's kissing to be done"). Carter's trials and triumphs in sports also come into play, as does his rapport with his caustic older sister and oafish friends. Crawford, an actor, stages an unexpected, affecting finale in which Carter finds confidence and fulfillment in an unlikely role: the lead in the spring musical. Teenage guys will totally get this. Ages 13-up. (Apr.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 8–11—Will Carter, nicknamed Carter, is a bundle of confusion as he begins high school. He's pretty sure his stutter will keep girls away and his ADD will make it difficult to be successfulcess in the classroom or where it really matters—on the ball field. But when his older sister gives him advice on how to pick up girls—and not embarrass her—Carter lands a date with Abby. He sweetly stumbles into romance and, of course, quickly screws it up. What makes this story so fresh is that Carter begins as a popular guy—he has friends, girls like him, and he's good at sports—but deep down he is insecure. Carter bumbles his way through the school year and into and out of one funny situation after another. Narrator Nick Podehl turns in a brilliant performance. He takes the humorous dialogue of first-time YA author Brent Crawford's story (Hyperion, 2009) and raises the bar to hilarious, using exaggeration, pauses, and pitch to great effect. Constant mild profanity, lots of locker-room humor, and Carter's fixation on sex make this a choice for older teens. Crawford has gotten it just right. Let's hope there is a sequel.—Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK

School Library Journal

Freshmen firsts: hookups, heartaches, humiliations. Though 14-year-old Will Paul Carter flopped during his last high dive of the summer, he's still looking forward to a madcap school year with hot chicks and honorable competitions. Dating isn't as easy as his sister suggested, however, and his subpar baseball skills keep him off the team with his cohorts. Instead, Carter takes to the stage and gets the girl and the glory as a thespian instead of a jock. Endowed with an infectious narrative voice, Carter builds up readers' energy, though the manic behavior wears thin occasionally. His focus bounces from unrelated topic to unrelated topic between chapters, but the disjointed flow is natural and underscores the character's Attention Deficit Disorder. Awkward humor abounds, from a fast-forward porn tape to speed leg-shaving to nervous bowels, and teen guys will love the opportunity to laugh at their best friend while avoiding embarrassment themselves. Crawford avoids moralizing, while nicely balancing toilet humor and developing social maturity. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Carter Finally Gets It:
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Reading List

From the Publisher

Will Carter is a 14-year-old trying to find his way through his freshman year. He stumbles through that coming-of-age time with school, friends, peer pressure, parties, sports, an older sister, bullies, grown-ups, and, yes, girls and sex. He's too cool, not cool enough, immature at times, savvy at others. Brent Crawford's story is laugh-out-loud funny and occasionally poignant. Nick Podehl gives a wonderfully animated performance, telling the story through Carter's perspective. His narration is wild at times, but always appropriate. He also does well with minor characters; his portrayal of a particular bully is downright hysterical. In particular, his voices, tones, and inflections for Carter will keep listeners interested as he does indeed figure out what getting through his first year of high school is all about. M.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2009 - AudioFile