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Smooth by Matt Burns

Smooth

Kindle Edition

Matt Burns

Candlewick Press · Ebook · June 16, 2020

Kevin’s acne is horribly, hideously bad.

Friendship for TeensFunny YAYA Illness & Disease Storiesschool
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Who it’s for
A wry, first-person coming-of-age story finds absurdity in acne, friendship, and heartbreak.
Genres
YA Illness & Disease Stories, Funny YA, Friendship for Teens
Published
Candlewick Press, June 16, 2020

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For younger readers: A-okay, Forsooth, Ugly

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About this book

Kevin’s acne is horribly, hideously bad. Can a risky treatment fix his face — and his entire life? A witty and sharply observed debut. Fifteen-year-old Kevin has acne, and not just any acne. Stinging red welts, painful pustules, and massive whiteheads are ruining his life. In an act of desperation, he asks his dermatologist to prescribe him a drug with a dizzying list of possible side effects — including depression — and an obligatory monthly blood test.

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But when he meets Alex, a girl in the lab waiting room, blood test day quickly becomes his safe haven — something he sorely needs, since everyone, including his two best friends, is trying his last nerve. But as Kevin’s friendships slip further away and he discovers who Alex is outside of the lab, he realizes he's not sure about anything anymore. Are loneliness and self-doubt the side effects of his new acne meds? Or are they the side effects of being fifteen? Told in a bitingly funny first-person narration, this debut novel crackles with wry and wistful insights about the absurdities of high school, longing and heartbreak, and a body out of control. A surefire hit for teen boys and reluctant readers, Smooth gets under the skin of a tenth-grader who is changing — inside and out.

Growing Pains, Sharp Wit

A wry, first-person coming-of-age story finds absurdity in acne, friendship, and heartbreak.

Come here for

  • Bitingly funny reflections on the indignities of high school
  • The uneasy overlap of changing friendships and first love

Expect

  • A teen narrator caught between self-doubt and sharp humor
  • Wistful attention to an unruly body and a changing life

Where it sits

Friendship for Teens48%
Funny YA42%
YA Illness & Disease Stories39%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • YA Illness & Disease Stories
  • Dark Comedy YA
  • Loners & Outsiders for Teens
Authors
Matt Burns
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Published
June 16, 2020
Format
Ebook
Reading lane
YA Illness & Disease Stories