SAWYER LEE AND THE QUEST TO JUST STAY HOME

Desperately resisting the call of adventure, one page at a time.

To say that Sawyer Lee is unambitious is like saying water is wet or snow is cold. Sawyer’s sole aspiration? To avoid actively participating in any aspect of his own life. His happy place is his best friend Gary’s couch (where Gary’s parents feed him snacks). “I don’t say I’m the smartest boy in school. Certainly not in the top 100 percent.” Alas, it all goes sideways when Sawyer is roped into helping his other friend, Angela, take part in the town’s annual competition for best gourd display (warning: Here be gourd puns). But when fellow participants keep getting caught cheating (thanks to the sharp-eyed spotting of goody-two-shoes Anderson, who also steals away Gary’s affections), it’s up to Sawyer to try as hard as he can (and fail) not to get involved. A rare instance of an actively passive protagonist in a novel’s starring role, this tale is filled with copious jokes and a bizarre internal logic that works on its own hilarious level. Interstitial cartoons complement the gags to a tee, and the central mystery of who is framing the competitors devolves chaotically. As Angela says, “Nobody has ever done anything bad when they were pretty sure they were the good guys.” Characters have paper-white skin.

Clever and funny, with a protagonist who resembles a young Bartleby, the Scrivener; hand to those seeking laffs.