Nothing Special
Authors: Geoff Herbach
Stupid Fast
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
2011 Cybils Award Winner, Young Adult Fiction
Junior Library Guild Selection
ABA Best Books
“Whip-smart and painfully self-aware,
Stupid Fast
is a funny and agonizing glimpse into the teenage brain.”
â
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Funny and compelling.”
â
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
“Wonderfully funny and touchingâ¦it made me laugh out loud, many, many times. Don't be a poop stinker. Read it.”
âChristina Mandelski, author of
The Sweetest Thing
“
Stupid Fast
is Stupid Good. Felton Reinstein is one of my favorite male protagonists of the year.”
â
The Happy Nappy Bookseller
“This is one of the best books I've read this yearâ¦even if you're not a fan of boy books or sports books or books with numbers on the cover...
Whatever
. Give this one a try. If you don't like it, I'll eat my shoe.”
â
Carrie Harris Books
“Felton's manic, repetitive voice and naïve, trusting personality stand out in a field of dude lit populated with posturing tough guys and cynical know-it-alls.”
â
Kirkus
“I was blown away by the multilayered, quirky characters. The observations told from Felton's eyes are so hilarious and heartbreaking. Great, great voice!”
âJulie Cross, author of
Tempest
“If you want to read something fantastically funny, pick up
Stupid Fast
. If you want to read something honest and refreshing, pick up
Stupid Fast
. I can't recommend this debut novel enough.”
â
YA Love
“In this struggling and often clueless teen, Herbach has created an endearing character coming to terms with his past and present in a small, well-defined Wisconsin town.”
â
Booklist
“A rare mix of raw honesty and hilarity.
Stupid Fast
is Stupid Good!”
âPeter Bognanni, author of
The House of Tomorrow
“You know when you read a book in like two days because it's so good? It kind of feels like speed reading, but really you're devouring the story every second that you can. That's what I did with
Stupid Fast
â¦Please read this book. It is really good.”
â
Desirous of Everything
“A real and raw protagonist with great humor.”
â
The Book Pixie
“This story isn't just about high school and puberty and sports. It has a dark sideâ¦Geoff weaves drama, comedy, and tragedy together seamlessly. The story is heartrending, yet hilarious, evocative, yet poignant.”
âMegan Bostic, author of
Never Eighteen
“I read Geoff Herbach's YA novel
Stupid Fast
âer, pretty darn fastâ¦it has a great character voice, Pete Hautmanâesque storytelling, and a deft recognition of human complexity.”
â
Daughter Number Three
“It's a great book for guys who don't like to readâ¦there's enough adrenaline in this book to keep a guy powering through to the end.”
â
The Librarianista
“I devoured this book in one complete sitting. The mixture of serious emotions, life changing discoveries, and all-out humor made
Stupid Fast
a book that I simply couldn't set downâ¦Trust me, you need a copy.”
â
Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
“This is a masterfully written book that perfectly captures the vibrating energy some teenage boys have. You can
feel
the hormones coursing through Felton's veins and completely understand his need to run, run, run.”
â
Ms. Yingling Reads
“
Stupid Fast
is stupid awesome. I am amazed by the author. Seriously amazed. He got into the head of a teenaged boy and made it possible for me to imagine what it might be like to be stupid fast like Felton.”
âBridgid, 5 stars
“This book is funny and real and heartbreaking and hopeful, and more than that, unique and genuine. Trust me.
This
book.”
âGail, 5 stars
“
Stupid Fast
is honestly one of the top three books I have ever read. It seriously made me laugh out loud. I would get dirty looks from old ladies at Borders because I would constantly chuckle and start to annoy them. I also liked that it wasn't only funny. The serious emotions and the suspense of uncovering the mystery kept me turning the pages, even when I had more important things to do like homework.”
âAdam, 5 stars
“I'm pretty sure that anyone who has ever been a teenager will have no problem identifying with Felton and loving every bit of this book as much as I did.”
âAlissa, 5 stars
“Geoff Herbach's characters totally come alive on the pageâ¦I totally recommend this book to anyone who likes a great sports story with heart.”
âKerry, 5 stars
“Throughout the book, there were things I could laugh at because they were funny, things I could laugh at because I related to them, and things I probably shouldn't have laughed at, but did anyway because I'd been there myself. It's a
really
compelling novel and I've seriously recommended it to everyone I know.”
âRandom Theater Kid, 5 stars
“Full of heart and soul, this is one of the best realistic YA novels I've read in a long time.”
âDiana, 5 stars
Copyright © 2012 by Geoff Herbach
Cover and internal design © 2012 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover design by William Riley/Sourcebooks
Cover images © Steve Weinrebe/Getty Images, © Phartisan/Dreamstime.com, © Willeecole/Dreamstime.com, © Yuri Arcurs/Dreamstime.com, © Steven Cukrov/Dreamstime.com, © Olga Semicheva/Dreamstime.com
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systemsâexcept in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviewsâwithout permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Published by Sourcebooks Fire, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
(630) 961-3900
Fax: (630) 961-2168
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher.
August 20th, 1:33 a.m.
Bluffton, WI
Monday, August 15th, 12:06 p.m.
Dane County Regional Airport
August 15th, 12:45 p.m.
Airplane to Chicago
August 15th, 1:48 p.m.
O'Hare Airport
August 15th, 2:50 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part II
August 15th, 3:12 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part III
August 15th, 3:31 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part IV
August 15th, 4:50 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part V
August 15th, 6:28 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part VI (Hotel)
August 15th, 8:15 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part VII (Hotel)
August 15th, 10:55 p.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part VIII (Hotel)
August 16th, 12:05 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part IX (Hotel)
August 16th, 2:17 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part X (Hotel)
August 16th, 3:17 a.m.
O'hare Airport, Part XI (Hotel)
August 16th, 3:34 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part XII (Hotel)
August 16th, 9:15 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part XIII
August 16th, 9:43 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part XIV
August 16th, 10:25 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part XV
August 16th, 10:58 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part XVI
August 16th, 11:27 a.m.
O'Hare Airport, Part XVII
August 16th, 12:30 p.m.
On the Way to Charlotte
August 16th, 2:35 p.m.
On the Way to Charlotte, Part II
August 16th, 3:07 p.m.
On the Way to Charlotte, Part III
August 16th, 5:03 p.m.
Eastern Time! Charlotte
August 16th, 6:12 p.m.
Leaving Charlotte
August 16th, 9:20 p.m.
Orangeburg, South Carolina
August 16th, 11:10 p.m.
Beaufort, South Carolina
August 17th, 12:17 a.m.
Somewhere in Georgia
August 17th, 2:55 a.m.
Jacksonville, Florida
August 17th, 3:41 a.m.
Jacksonville, Florida, Part II
August 17th, 7:18 a.m.
Orlando, Florida
August 17th, 7:39 a.m.
Orlando, Florida, Part II
August 17th, 8:11 a.m.
Orlando, Florida, Part III
August 17th, 10:04 a.m.
Tampa Bus Station
August 17th, 10:12 a.m.
Tampa Bus Station, Part II
August 17th, 10:49 a.m.
South of Tampa
August 17th, 11:40 a.m.
Just Left St. Petersburg
August 17th, 12:23 p.m.
Near Bradenton
August 17th, 1:00 p.m.
Just Left Bradenton
August 17th, 1:16 p.m.
A Little Farther from Bradenton
August 17th, 1:23 p.m.
Even a Little Farther from Bradenton
August 17th, 2:17 p.m.
Near Port Charlotte
August 17th, 2:51 p.m.
Port Charlotte
August 17th, 3:16 p.m.
Port Charlotte, Part II
August 17th, 3:56 p.m.
Port Charlotte, Part III
August 17th, 4:19 p.m.
Port Charlotte, Part IV
For Leo and Mira
Bluffton, WI
Hey, Aleah, I just thought I'd drop this in, because it's sort of interesting to know what Andrew was thinking back in January, before he got messed up. From his blog at feltonreistein.com:
Felton is Number 2!
“Reinstein is the rarest of athletes, a freak of nature with great size and speed combined with crazy-quick animal reflexes. That Reinstein has played just one season of organized football should strike fear in the hearts of coming opponents and has already caused seismic recruiting efforts among collegiate programs across the nation.”â
Wisconsin State Journal
You probably already know this, but Felton has been deemed the #2 sports story in the state of Wisconsin for the year (right behind the Green Bay Packers' mid-season resurgenceâI had no idea they had gone downhill everâI pay no attention to professional athletics).
We had six
State Journal
newspapers jammed in our door, and Felton had approximately ten million voice mail messages from people wanting to congratulate him.
Did Felton celebrate this coverage? Not at all. He went running for about ten minutes. Then he came back because he kept falling down in the snow. (Snow hasn't stopped him before, I promise you.) He watched TV for ten minutes and groaned about how he'd seen every
COPS
episode ever made. Then he went to bed. It's not even dinnertime yet.
Jerri is concerned for him. I suppose he is feeling pressure. Why, though? He likes playing football. He just has to do what he likes. That is easy.
Jerri is making him some hamburgers for dinner. She's a terrible cook. Maybe he'll sleep through it? I won't, unfortunately.
Happy New Year!
âAndrew
