Funny writing, a favorite theme and a feel-good ending take the onus off a formulaic plot. Lekich (Liar's Club
) starts with a risky move, introducing a bullied, über-nerd narrator desperate to climb the high school social ladder —except that readers will right away see why other kids want to avoid him. Tenth-grader Raymond Dunne can't help that he faints for no discernible reason (“I am also a bleeder and a sneezer,” he adds), but why does he like hanging out with the vice-principal and collecting keys to the school supply closets, and how come he's so proud of manning the school's lost-and-found booth? The story gains momentum after super-cool Jack Alexander transfers to Raymond's school, discovers a secret room and comes up with a business plan to create an “underground social club” that will turn a profit and make Raymond popular. Lekich builds in explanatory details to camouflage the hoariness of the secret-room device and the implausibility of the boys' friendship, and his fearless exaggeration of the authority figures in Raymond's life creates an agreeably zany backdrop. Teen readers should like this light, geek-makes-good story and its easy delivery. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)
