Swim the Fly by Don Calame

OK, teen librarians get your pencils out and mark this book down for your next order. Teen boys, read this book if you want a good laugh about stuff that you will be able to relate to. Teen girls read this book to find out more about boys! Everyone else, read this book for the sheer enjoyment of it.

Swim the Fly by Don Calame is a seriously funny and perfect "boy" book, which librarians all spend half their lives trying to find.  And if you aren't a teen librarian, just read the thing.  But be prepared to laugh.

This coming-of-age story is about three friends, Matt, Sean, and Coop who challenge themselves to accomplish a goal every summer.  This summer their goal is to see a naked girl. Along the way Matt, who has a crush on the new girl on the swim team, volunteers to swim the butterfly in competition for the team.  It is a stroke that he doesn't know how to swim and is by far the hardest swim stroke to master. The book is full of barf, farts, and dumb jokes, many that made me laugh out loud, and funny passages that I shared with my husband.

*First lines, Chapter 1:

"Movies don’t count," Cooper says. "The Internet -doesn’t count. Magazines don’t count. A real, live naked girl. That’s the deal. That’s our goal for this summer."
"Been there, done that," Sean says.
"Taking baths with your sister -doesn’t count, either, Sean." Cooper snorts.

*Quote from page 56:

I kick my sneakers off and fling them into the coat closet with my toes. There's a crash, and a bunch of canisters roll out onto the vestibule floor..the blue one says Nutraworld Organic Fiber Laxative and the red one says Nutraworld Organic Muscle-Building Protein Powder...

You get the idea.  Adolescent boys. Mixed up cans. Adolescent jokes. Lots of fun!


*For participation in First Line Friday at A Few More Pages.
*For participation in The Friday 56 at Freda's Voice.