“I was disappointed in probably the first half or two thirds of this book, though mainly it was because I expect more character realism from Spinelli due to his amazing success in other books at portraying teenagers as they really are. But some of this character's thoughts and actions seemed a bit canned at first. I thought I might have just not related to the protagonist well; Will Tuppence was kind of a moody kid, and after hearing that protons die, he was really bothered by the impermanence of the universe. I thought the attempt at romance was only partially realistic, and I was kind of annoyed at the idea that Will got his hopes up about asking the girl he liked to a dance only to find out she was going with someone else "because no one else had asked me yet. . . . " Hey, couldn't she have asked him if she really wanted to go with him? C'mon. But one thing I DID end up liking a lot about this book was the unresolved issues. Too many books for teens wrap everything up with a bow--wow, the freshman in high school has figured out love, solved his life issues, and won the chess championship! Well, Will didn't get everything he wanted, so much as he realized there were some things he'd been taking for granted and/or misunderstanding that he ended up appreciating (specifically, his little sister). I thought the pestering that Will's sister inflicted on him was pretty realistic, and I liked the characterization of Will's friend BT, and I also liked the typical teenager moodiness that got a good hold on Will sometimes. I ended up liking it all right, but it isn't Spinelli's best book.”
