Smooth
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Kevin’s acne is horribly, hideously bad. Can a risky treatment fix his face — and his entire life? A witty and sharply observed debut. Fifteen-year-old Kevin has acne, and not just any acne. Stinging red welts, painful pustules, and massive whiteheads are ruining his life. In an act of desperation, he asks his dermatologist to prescribe him a drug with a dizzying list of possible side effects — including depression — and an obligatory monthly blood test. But when he meets Alex, a girl in the lab waiting room, blood test day quickly becomes his safe haven — something he sorely needs, since everyone, including his two best friends, is trying his last nerve. But as Kevin’s friendships slip further away and he discovers who Alex is outside of the lab, he realizes he's not sure about anything anymore. Are loneliness and self-doubt the side effects of his new acne meds? Or are they the side effects of being fifteen? Told in a bitingly funny first-person narration, this debut novel crackles with wry and wistful insights about the absurdities of high school, longing and heartbreak, and a body out of control. A surefire hit for teen boys and reluctant readers, Smooth gets under the skin of a tenth-grader who is changing — inside and out.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Self-deprecating Georgia high school sophomore Kevin, an insecure, anxious teenager with severe facial acne, narrates this bildungsroman set in 2007. Daunted by the prospect of another year "with a face like a red-and-purple tie-dyed scab," Kevin opts to try Accutane, a "last-resort" drug, despite its long list of side effects and required series of blood tests. Waiting for his monthly test, he develops a crush on Alex, another Accutane patient with milder acne. Though their first conversation is painfully awkward, Kevin remains hopeful they can romantically connect until Alex transfers to his school, and he discovers his idealistic image of her doesn't match who she really is. Feeling distanced from Alex and from his two childhood best friends, who joined the football team and now hang out with a popular "posse of kids," Kevin wonders if his alienation and suicidal thoughts are a normal part of growing up or an effect of his medication. Though his rallying from depression and subsequent profound revelations about himself and others feel somewhat abrupt, Kevin's conflicts and uncertainties will resonate; the plethora of penis jokes and pimple anecdotes belies a surprising amount of pathos in this voice-driven debut. Ages 14 up.
