Pete Hautman, . . Simon Pulse, $7.99 (198pp) ISBN 978-1-4169-0816-6
PW
called this novel, in which a rebellious high schooler starts his own church, the Chutengodians, who worship the "Ten-legged God" their town's water tower, "provocative." Ages 12-up. (Nov.)
Can a man who has existed for years as a passive, unassuming plodder undergo a midlife epiphany and turn into a hard-charging, winner-take-all executive who no longer feels bound by the rules? Continue reading »
Hautman's 10th novel (after 2001's Rag Man) is an amiable thriller infused with the author's characteristic wit, equipped with a Rube Goldbergian Continue reading »
Hautman, an insulin-dependent diabetic, brings an unusual perspective to the anemic horror topic with his portrayal of Lucinda Szabo, the vampire-obsessed diabetic who narrates this tale with wit Continue reading »
"Why mess around with Catholicism when you can have your own customized religion? All you need is a disciple or two. And a god." So says narrator Jason Bock, a high schooler rebelling Continue reading »
The author traces a vampire-obsessed 16-year-old diabetic's steep slide downward as she is intellectually seduced by a middle-aged cybervamp via the Internet. "The exotic theme coupled Continue reading »
The strength of Hautman's (Godless
) painfully sad novel is the wisecracking but clearly unreliable voice of its narrator, 17-year-old Douglas MacArthur Continue reading »
Hautman's Godless
(2005) won a National Book Award for Young People's Fiction, but his impressive, sharply written new crime thriller is definitely for Continue reading »
Hautman (Invisible
) explores the modernday tension between safety and freedom in this intelligent and darkly comic satire set 70 years in the future. Despite Continue reading »
Kelleigh Monahan, an atypically underprogrammed American teen, has just two assignments before the start of sophomore year: read Moby-Dick
and write a Continue reading »
One of the oldest tropes—a stranger comes to town—gets fresh treatment in this gripping whodunit. Sixteen-year-old Shayne Blank arrives at the police station to confess to murder; his story spills Continue reading »
Showing his range, Hautman (How to Steal a Car) writes a love story that's affecting despite, or perhaps because of, its ordinariness. Wes and June know each other, vaguely, from high school, but Continue reading »
Although this tale of a teenager's descent into the world of high-stakes poker lacks the labyrinthine yet crystal-clear plotting of Mr. Was, Hautman nonetheless holds a wild card in his hand. Denn Continue reading »
A prolific children's nonfiction author (under the pseudonym Peter Murray) turns to adult fiction in this first-class caper novel, which involves a truly unique scam and enough memorably shady Continue reading »
This exhilarating prequel to Drawing Dead is by turns funny and soulful and always unpredictable. Joe Crow has scraped bottom: he's lost his job as a cop for handcuffing the chief's troublesome Continue reading »
Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard fans who have yet to discover Hautman's wryly comic, warmly human characters and madcap plots are in for a treat. Septuagenarian Axel Speeter, former roving gambler, Continue reading »
In relating this violent, very Midwestern comedy of errors, Hautman (Mortal Nuts) adopts a deadpan tone that has a few too many flat moments. The trouble begins when Alex Speeter, putative stepfather Continue reading »
Ingenious plotting and startling action combine to make this time-travel thriller a riveting read. Trying to escape from his violent father, Jack and his mother move into his late grandfather's Continue reading »
In a Minnesota peopled by Salem-smoking, cake-baking women and their disappointing, truant men, Hautman's faded rose Barbaraannette kills time and stakes her hopes on daily Powerball. The dumbest Continue reading »
PW talks with National Book Award winner Pete Hautman about his new YA novel, Rash (S&S), a black comedy set 70 years in the future.
Continue reading »
Since winning the National Book Award in 2005 for Godless, this Minnesota native's life has changed, if not dramatically, then mostly for the good. Here he talks about his new Continue reading »
The Fairy Tale Fan Club: Legendary Letters Collected by C.C. Cecily (The Fairy Tale Fan Club #1)
Richard Ayoade
In a comical introduction, C.C. Cecily, Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club, describes at length fielding “Where are they now?”–type queries from curious humans to fairy Continue reading »
This strangely moving, legend-like story told in two parts starts with Laki, a very old, blue, hulking creature, whose world is upended when small, child-like, orange Hekla Continue reading »
The Hill: Inside the Secret World of the U.S. Capitol
Kate Andersen Brower
Taking up more than 1.5 million square feet and boasting more than 600 rooms, plus its own subway system, barbershop, and dining options, the U.S. Capitol proves a fascinating Continue reading »
A 17-year-old learns a devastating secret regarding her insular hometown in this Ray Bradbury–esque paranormal
fantasy from Thomas (Seton Girls). In Streetlight, the Have-Nots Continue reading »