Printz Honor winner A.S. King (Everybody Sees the Ants) here explores the cost of fame and the power of narrative in the life of Gerald Faust. A reality TV show about dysfunctional families made Gerald both famous and infamous. Cast as the young villain for his "acting out"--most of which was actually an attempt to defend himself from his psychotic older sister, Tasha--he lived up to expectations and then some.
Gerald has grown into a friendless 17-year-old, afraid of his emotions and still subject to Tasha's tyranny. He often escapes into a fantasy world where everything is perfect. His real life seems designed to keep him enraged--and stuck. His mother treats him as if he is deficient and unmanageable. His father is disaffected, made powerless by his wife's obsession with keeping Tasha happy. The bright spots in Gerald's life take place primarily at his concession-stand job at a nearby stadium. That also happens to be where his crush works--if he were allowed to have crushes, which he's not. The rules that Gerald lives by, the only things keeping him from life in prison (or so he believes), don't allow for much interaction. But his walls and his rules start to crumble.
King's ability to show all sides of the story is a marvel. Reality Boy is as much about parental depression and denial as it is about teen rage. It's also about first love, celebrity, therapy and finding your own narrative despite the story your family--and sometimes the world--tells about you. --Jenn Northington, events manager at WORD bookstore