The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

The Great American Whatever

by Tim Federle

From the award-winning author of Five, Six, Seven, Nate! and Better Nate Than Ever comes "a Holden Caulfield for a new generation" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old smart aleck and Hollywood hopeful whose only worry used to be writing convincing dialogue for the movies he made with his sister Annabeth. Of course, that was all before-before Quinn stopped going to school, before his mom started sleeping on the sofa...and before the car accident that changed everything.

Enter: Geoff, Quinn's best friend who insists it's time that Quinn came out-at least from hibernation. One haircut later, Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a guy-okay, a hot guy-and falls, hard. What follows is an upside-down week in which Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually have a happily-ever-after ending-if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.

Reviewed by Stephanie on

3 of 5 stars

Share
The Great American Whatever was...well, whatever. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Too many nuances in the character arcs that were glossed over. But the fun meta-like nods to screenwriting helped make this interesting to read.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 April, 2016: Finished reading
  • 4 April, 2016: Reviewed