The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl [Paperback]

Barry Lyga (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2007

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year *“Fanboy’s whip-smart, often hilariously sarcastic voice . . . adds fresh, urgent perspective to age-old questions about how young people cope with . . . being misunderstood as they try to discover themselves.” —Booklist, starred review “A captivating, darkly entertaining first novel.” —Tom Perrotta, author of Election and Little Children

Fanboy has never had it good, but lately his sophomore year is turning out to be its own special hell. The bullies have made him their favorite target, his best (and only) friend seems headed for the dark side (sports and popularity), and his pregnant mother and the step-fascist are eagerly awaiting the birth of the alien life form known as Fanboy’s new little brother or sister.

Fanboy, though, has a secret: a graphic novel he’s been working on without telling anyone, a graphic novel that he is convinced will lead to publication, fame, and—most important of all—a way out of the crappy little town he lives in and all the people that make it hell for him.

When Fanboy meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, he finds an outrageous, cynical girl who shares his love of comics as well as his hatred for jocks and bullies. Fanboy can’t resist someone who actually seems to understand him, and soon he finds himself willing to heed her advice—to ignore or crush anyone who stands in his way.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–On good days, Fanboy is invisible to the students at his high school. On bad ones, he's a target for bullying and violence. When a classmate is cruel to him, Fanboy adds him to The List and moves on. His only real friend, Cal, is a jock who can't be seen with him in public. Their love of comics, though, keeps them close friends outside of school. Reading comics and writing his own graphic novel, Schemata, are the only things that keep him sane. He dreams of showing his work to a famous author at a comic-book convention and being discovered as the next great graphic novelist. When Goth Girl Kyra IMs him with photos of him being beaten up, he's skeptical. Why does she care what happens to him? He learns, though, that she's as much an outsider as he is. The two form a tentative friendship based on hatred of their classmates, particularly jocks, and her interest in Schemata. Fanboy is a rule follower, but Kyra is a rebel with a foul mouth. She teaches him to stand up for himself, and gives him the confidence to do it. Lyga looks at how teens are pushed to their limits by society. Though he toys with such concepts as teen suicide and Columbine-like violence, the novel never turns tragic. His love of comics carries over into all three teen characters, breathing animation into a potentially sad but often funny story. This is a great bridge book for teens who already like graphic novels.–Stephanie L. Petruso, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Odenton, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

"I'm a computer geek, a comic book geek, a study geek. Even in the Fast-Track classes, I'm apart." Fifteen-year-old Fanboy is miserable at school, where he is bullied, and at home, with his pregnant mother and her husband, the "step-fascist." His only relief is the late hours spent creating his own comic book. Then he receives an instant message from Kyra, an enigmatic Goth who seems to be the only witness to the violence he endures, and the two form a cagey, charged friendship. Unlike Daniel Ehrenhaft's Drawing a Blank (2006), in which a young comics fan embarks on a wild, fantastical adventure, Lyga's debut novel is a darkly comic, realistic, contemporary story of bullying and a teen's private escape in artistic pursuits. Fanboy entertains plenty of violent thoughts. He carries a bullet, keeps a tally of his abusers ("The List"), and lashes out with sometimes-cruel remarks, which feel sharply authentic. The insider comics details will slow some readers, and the open-ended questions about Kyra's personal story will frustrate others. Yet Fanboy's whip-smart, often hilariously sarcastic voice skillfully captures a teenager's growing self-awareness, and adds a fresh, urgent perspective to age-old questions about how young people cope with bullying and their own feelings of helplessness, rage, and being misunderstood as they try to discover themselves. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Graphia; Reprint edition (September 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618916520
• ISBN-13: 978-0618916528
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #737,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Teens > Education & Reference > Science & Technology > Computers

More About the Author

Called a "YA rebel-author" by Kirkus Reviews, Barry Lyga has published eleven novels in various genres in his seven-year career, including the New York Times bestselling I Hunt Killers. His books have been or are slated to be published in nine different languages in North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia.

After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Lyga worked in the comic book industry before quitting to pursue his lifelong love of writing. In 2006, his first young adult novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was published to rave reviews, including starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Publisher's Weekly named Lyga a "Flying Start" in December 2006 on the strength of the debut.

His second young adult novel, Boy Toy, received starred reviews in SLJ, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. VOYA gave it its highest critical rating, and the Chicago Tribune called it "...an astounding portrayal of what it is like to be the young male victim." His third novel, Hero-Type, according to VOYA "proves that there are still fresh ideas and new, interesting story lines to be explored in young adult literature."

Since then, he has also written Goth Girl Rising (the sequel to his first novel), as well as the Archvillain series for middle-grade readers and the graphic novel Mangaman (with art by Colleen Doran).

His latest series is I Hunt Killers, called by the LA Times "one of the more daring concepts in recent years by a young-adult author" and an "extreme and utterly alluring narrative about nature versus nurture." The first book landed on both the New York Times and USAToday bestsellers lists, and the series has been optioned for television by Warner Bros./Silver Pictures.

Lyga lives and writes in New York City. His comic book collection is a lot smaller than it used to be, but is still way too big.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive novel with heart and raw emotion January 4, 2007

By Teen Reads

Format:Hardcover

Things are going from bad to worse for 15-year-old comic book geek Donnie, aka "Fanboy." He keeps getting bullied in school. His parents are divorced and now his mother is pregnant with the "step-fascist's" baby. "The List" of people he'd rather have far away from his school keeps getting bigger and bigger. And now, his only friend Cal is becoming more obsessed with sports than comic books.

Donnie has several tools that help him in his struggle with high school survival. He carries in his pocket a bullet, which is like a security blanket; just knowing it's there soothes him. But the thing that gets him through it all is the graphic novel he is working on, SCHEMATA. He's convinced that if he shows his work to the famous author Bendis, he'll get signed --- and a ticket right out of town.

As he deals with his daily struggles, Donnie starts going through another torture. In gym class, Mitchell Frampton keeps punching him in the same spot on his arm over and over again. Nobody seems to notice --- nobody but a flash of white and black from the bleachers, that is. And then Donnie gets an anonymous IM from Promeatha387 asking, "Why do you let him hit you?" Promeatha is the name of an Alan Moore comic book character, and it immediately gets Donnie's attention.

They meet at the playground after school. Promeatha387 turns out to be Kyra, aka "Goth Girl," who wears all black and has black dyed hair. "Her face is so pale...that I can't even think of something to compare it to. Chalk? Kabuki makeup? Liquid Paper? Her eyes are brown stamps on it, her nose a bump that sparkles with a red stone through one side. Her mouth twists in a sneer, her lower lip is pierced at the corner, and the ring somehow makes the sneer broader."

She calls him "Fanboy" for his taste in comics and has a powerful personality and a voice that's "low, sardonic, defensive." Fanboy starts spending more time with Goth Girl, who has more in common with him now than his friend Cal, who is obsessed with his lacrosse team. Goth Girl shares freely her opinions and stories about the world. She also encourages Fanboy to continue with his graphic novel. In the end, the relationship with Goth Girl helps Fanboy figure out who he really is.

Author Barry Lyga, "a recovering comic book geek," spent years working in the comic book industry. His love of comics clearly comes out in the character of Fanboy.

THE ASTONISHING ADVENTURES OF FANBOY AND GOTH GIRL is an impressive first novel with heart and raw emotion that tackles serious problems real teens face today. The characters are so alive that they jump off the page and will stick in the reader's mind for days after putting the book down. Fanboy's voice is strong, sarcastic and often hilarious. He also has so much depth and heart that the reader can't help but root for him every step of his tumultuous journey.

--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What I though of Fanboy and Gothgirl April 16, 2007

A Kid's Review

Format:Hardcover

Fanboy and Gothgirl is a book about a teenage boy who is in love with comics, excuse me, i mean "graphic novels." He's an outcast to a lot of kids, and is a punching bag to the rest. To get away from all the madness he has in his life including, being a punching bag, the genius in the school, his pregnet mother, divorced parents, and having a jock as a bestfriend he makes his own graphic novel to show his favorite, not to mention his role model, graphic novel writter.

Fanboy meets a girl and they become friends. Fanboy has never really had any friend but his jock friend that usually pays no attention to him, so he's sorta new at the new friend thing. Fanboys' novel is a secret that he hasn't told anyone, but his family, about. He opens up to Gothgirl and tells her about his novel. She ends up helping him with it. Even though they have fights, they still stay close.

When Mr. Andree (my english teacher) told my class about this book, I thought that I wouldn't like it, but I took it to read anyways. It was totally different than I had expected and I couldn't put the book down. This book had helped me through my reality by teaching me that just how the way people look or act doesn't mean that you should treat them differently. They are their own character and you can't, and shouldn't, try to change that, or take that from them. I would defiantly recommend this book out to people of all ages that like teenage drama.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars For Geeks and Goths and anyone else who deals with high school December 22, 2006

By Kathryn Gaglione

Format:Hardcover

There are three things that Fanboy wants more that anything in this world. The first is the newest, fasted Mac computer to be able to produce his comic--excuse me, I mean graphic novel. The second is a mint condition Giant-Size X-Men #1. The third he will never tell, but someday I hope to find out.

Fanboy fantasizes about what every under-challenged kid does--catching a glimpse of a perfectly toned flesh, kissing the most popular kid at school, finding a way out of a too-small town that doesn't offer much of a future, putting every bully on The List. But it's not until Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, shows him how to live a little that he realizes he doesn't just have to imagine a future, he needs to take charge of it.

Fanboy and Goth Girl are touchable. He is the kid sitting next to you next to you in trig, she is the girl in black waiting at the bus stop for her ride. Everything they do, everything the hope for is what makes an American teenager real. These are every day kids that must face the "real world" and deal with the trials, sarrows, and yes, even little joys, that every-day life offers.

Lyga writes with such clarity that I see myself in this book and hope that I can deal with life just like Fanboy. Not everything works out perfectly, but Lyga leaves it open for the reader's imagination or perhaps even a sequel. Either way, I plan to read more of whatever he writes.