WELCOME TO DWEEB CLUB

An eclectic group of seventh graders join a mysterious, life-altering after-school club.

At the beginning of seventh grade, Jason Sloan joins Flounder Bay Upper School’s new H.A.I.R. Club at an activity fair, motivated by his popular, perfectly coiffed friend Glamorous Steve’s enthusiasm. The members soon realize that the club isn’t actually about hair; it’s a secret club in which the kids must monitor an anonymous donor’s high-tech video system for any security breaches on school grounds. The club’s first big assignment is to determine who has been stealing the cafeteria’s stash of croutons, but as the eight members review the footage, they eventually notice something creepy and unbelievable—it shows themselves eating lunch five years in the future. Most of the kids don’t like what they see of themselves as seniors (Steve’s lost his enviable hairdo, Nikhil has an embarrassing mustache, Sonia seems to have questionable taste in clothes and boys, and Jason barely has any friends), and they team up to solve the real mystery: Who’s behind the time-bending tech, and what they can do to alter their trajectories? The story’s premise is compelling, and Jason’s family relationships are refreshing and well drawn, but the seventh graders’ issues can seem superficial, and the character development is uneven. The club is majority White by default, but three kids’ names cue them as Asian.

A funny and original story about friendship and the future.