Going Nowhere Faster
by Sean Beaudoin

    GOING NOWHERE FASTER by Sean Beaudoin
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  4/1/07
    Publisher:  Little, Brown
    Reviewed by:  Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
    Rating:  5 Stars


    I’ll admit I picked this because of the title, GOING NOWHERE FASTER. Aren’t there times when we all feel
    that way?

    Stan Smith has more problems than you can shake a stick at.  One problem is his name - "Stan."  Who names their
    kid Stan?  But then his parents aren't exactly your normal, run-of-the-mill parents.  They are another one of his
    problems.  His dad is a crazy inventor and his mother is an over 6-foot-tall Amazon vegan who attempts to run an
    organic food market.  

    Another sore spot in Stan's life is Prarash, his mother's smelly yoga and meditation partner, who practically lives
    with them.  There's also Chopper, the family dog who produces more "gas" than the oil fields of Kuwait.  The only
    normal one in the family is Stan's little sister, Olivia.  She's the one bright spot in his existence.

    Stan should be thinking about college, but instead is working a dead-end job at Happy Video.  It at least gives him
    the chance to watch endless videos in an attempt to prepare for what he hopes is a future in writing movie scripts.  
    In the meantime, he is stuck riding his ten-speed, helping out in the family business, and hoping for a chance to date
    the girl of his dreams, Ellen.

    As if Stan doesn't have enough problems, he believes he has a stalker.  The victim of high school taunting and
    bullying, he was threatened by Ellen's ex, Chad Chilton.  Now the evidence is mounting and points to Chad as the
    probable driver of the speeding car that almost ran Stan off the road one dark night, as well as the twisted mind
    that left a mutilated Barbie doll on Stan's steps.  These acts of terror, plus slashed bike tires and vandalism at the
    Happy Video store, are sending waves of fear through the frustrated Stan.

    Sean Beaudoin uses witty dialogue and hilarious descriptions to grab readers and get them cheering for poor Stan.  
    The first person style helps readers understand Stan's above-average intelligence and his passion for movies and
    scriptwriting.  This is definitely one I found difficult to put down once I started reading.