Wake Me Up Before You, Well, You Know

BOOK REPORT for Before You Go by James Preller

Cover Story: Not Bad
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Straight Up BOY
Bonus Factors: Summer Job, Sassy Best Friends (Guy Version)
Relationship Status: Teenaged Work Buddy

Cover Story: Not Bad

I tried to come up with some sort of traffic or storm cloud joke, but it just wasn't working. The cover works, though -- a high school English class could go all sorts of symbolism crazy on the yellow caution light (Will Jude stop his downward spiral? Or go?), and it's an eye-catching, sinister image.

The Deal:

Jude just got his first summer job, working boardwalk concessions down at the beach, where he falls in love, makes new friends, and starts to come out from under the shadow of his family tragedy. His sister Lily drowned when she was four and Jude was nine -- and Jude was supposed to be watching her. His mother disappeared into herself, and his father disappeared into over-the-top nerdy running (I'm talking spandex-wearing, GPS-watch obsessing, sports-beans chomping mania). Now it looks like Jude just might be able to see an escape in his future, but when his life turns to shit again, he's not sure if he'll ever make it out.

BFF Charm: Yay

Despite his overwhelming BOY-ness (more on that later), I'd be happy to toss Jude a BFF charm. Maybe I'd make it out of a guitar pick instead of a shiny heart, since he's obsessed with guitars, or I might just burn him a CD instead, but the point is, Jude makes a pretty good friend. He's funny, even though his cynicism wears a little thin even for me, and I first heard his jokes at least ten years ago. More nerdy than geeky, definitely disillusioned, quick to use sarcasm as a defense, Jude is friends with a misfit group of guys more by default and habit than intention. The poor guy's been through so much, and I'd be happy to just let him be — let him open up when he wants to, and leave him alone when he needs it. Not surprisingly, given the shit he's been though, he's fairly mature underneath all that damage and defensive front, uncomfortable with locker room talk but smart enough not to laugh when the bigger, more experienced fry cook uses the word, "ridonkulous" in all seriousness.

Swoonworthy Scale: 4

I love how Jude's crush Becka isn't the sexpot -- she's the cute, smart one who sends him silly texts about getting her hand stuck in a can of Pringles. She can run a little too close to the manic pixie dreamgirl line, but doesn't quite cross it, and comes across as very much a normal teenage girl. The details of an intense crush ring true, like Jude memorizing Becka's break schedule so he can make sure he's sweeping up or scraping gum outside so they can talk, but I didn't feel like there was enough development after, once there's a relationship, to give it a higher rating.

Talky Talk: Straight Up BOY

Preller's writing is so authentically BOY, it almost hurts. It's impossible not to write that word in all caps -- it's not just "boy," it's BOY. Jude's not a bro, or a dude, or one of John Green's geeky guys -- he's more along the lines of Brian Katcher's protagonists (especially Leon in Playing With Matches). Jude and his friends spend more time making fun of each other and talking about Battlestar Galactica than actually doing what they claim is their goal in life -- picking up chicks -- and the alien BOY-world is almost embarrassing (or just WTF) at times:

Jude was sure that half the crowd was buzzed on something, tripping the light fantastic. With that many guys and girls jumbled in one place, rock music blaring, strobes flashing, it felt like what school might have been like without the teachers and hall monitors.

Then, out of nowhere, Preller will drop in little bits of near-poetry -- Jude's memories of Lily, or his elation after his first conversation with Becka -- that hint at the pretty amazing guy Jude might grow up to be.

Jude noticed a little girl walk past, comically trying to balance a soda and a container of fries. A smattering of fries spilled to the sand after her, like Gretel's trail of crumbs in the woods. Ahead of her walked an older boy, surely her brother … [Jude] stood watching as they walked in the sand toward the water, searching for a familiar blanket or beach umbrella.

Just a boy and a boy's sister.

Take her hand, Jude urged the boy. Don't let her out of your sight. But the older boy kept walking, confident that his sister would always be there.

Bonus Factor: Summer Job

Sure, Jude's job flipping burgers and scraping gum for the Long Island beach rats completely sucks, right down to the neon orange uniform t-shirts, but it's a summer job! EVERYONE should have a crappy summer job at one point in their lives, because how else do you learn how important it is to tip, or smile at the cashier when she's having a tough time with the register because it's her first day, or take all those clothes OUT OF THE DRESSING ROOM and give them to the attendant, rather than leave them piled on the floor because HELLO, someone has to clean up after you and she does NOT GET PAID ENOUGH to be your personal maid. Oh yeah, and summer jobs usually mean bonding with people you'd ordinarily never hang out with, faced by the common foe of shitty managers and evil customers and smelling like a grease trap.

Bonus Factor: Sassy Best Friends (Guy Version)

Jude's BFF Corey, who's the only person who knows the whole story about Lily besides his family because they've been friends since before the accident, and his new friend Roberto from work are AWESOME. They're hilarious, and majorly nerdy (Corey likes to point out all the neighbors he's sure are zombies, while Roberto references Christopher Columbus, Donnie Darko, and Sesame Street all in one breath), and -- most importantly -- they care enough to shake Jude by the shoulders and say, "What are you doing? What, what, WHAT are you doing? LOOK at your life! Look at your CHOICES!" then back down and let Jude work the rest out on his own.

Casting Call:

Carter Jenkins as Jude

Relationship Status: Teenaged Work Buddy

This book is like the teenager hired for the summer -- even though it's way younger than I am, we have fun playing pranks and goofing off during lunch breaks, and it's always welcome to come crash after-work dinners, but we'll never, like, DATE or anything. That would be way too weird, although I get the feeling if I were younger or it were older, we might have a lot of fun.

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from Feiwel and Friends. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Before You Go will be available July 17.