cover image Jack Tumor

Jack Tumor

Anthony McGowan, . . Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $17.95 (292pp) ISBN 978-0-374-32955-6

Fourteen-year-old Hector has no shortage of problems: “My mum was a hippie, my dad was nowhere, my school was a dung heap; I was bullied by Neanderthals and ignored by the girls, and my friends were the Wretched of the Earth.” But when he learns he has a brain tumor—a vocal one, no less, that waxes philosophical and occasionally assumes control of Hector's movements—he may have hit rock bottom. Except that “Jack Tumor” helps Hector “snog” the hottest chick around, humiliate the school bullies and transform his normally spaced-out mom into something resembling normal. Though the story can ramble painfully, McGowan injects plenty of humor, phallic references and British slang into this edgy coming-of-age tale. His story is geared toward male teens who will get the many sexual innuendos, though when he's not lusting after girls, Hector's musings seem pretty mature for his age. As Hector grapples with love, friendship and death, a broad range of readers should find the trip worth it. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)