TWO PARTIES, ONE TUX, AND A VERY SHORT FILM ABOUT THE GRAPES OF WRATH

Take one nudity- and violence-filled claymation film, a suddenly gay best friend and plenty of dry wit. Add a dollop of creative chapter headings and enjoy. Mitch’s junior year suddenly goes off the rails when best friend David comes out one day. Things spiral out of control from there, through believable angst and the absurdities of high-school politics. When Mitch turns in his arts film for an English paper (on a book he hasn’t read), he finds himself accused of religious mockery, his teacher disappears and he acquires a popular girlfriend. But the heart of this story revolves around renegotiating a friendship that no longer works the same way: If David is gay and Mitch and David do everything together, what does this mean for Mitch? Mitch and David are nobodies in the school hierarchy, the perfect perspective for astute observations of their world, and Mitch’s strangely flat affect enhances the subtle humor of his first-person narrative. Debut author Goldman, who clearly understands how teen boys think and speak, delivers an understated, genuine delight. (Fiction. 12-16)