Colin Singleton is certain he’s a has-been. He got a great deal of attention for being a child prodigy, but now that he has graduated from high school, he despairs of doing anything that matters. Worse, he despairs of ever finding love. For a brainiac, he’s been lucky with attracting girls—girls named Katherine. Unfortunately, he just got dumped by his nineteenth Katherine, and his prospects aren’t exactly peachy.

Colin agrees to go on a summer road trip with his best friend, Hassan Harbish. They find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee, where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand is said to be buried. There they meet Lindsey Lee Wells, tour guide and paramedic in training.

The boys decide to stay in Gutshot for a few weeks while Colin wraps his brain around the problem of Katherines and a possible mathematical theorem to describe the relationship between dumpers and dumpees. Between Colin’s brooding, Hassan’s adventuresome ways, and Lindsey’s quiet friendship, Colin will learn to see things from a different perspective. But will he see the most important things before they’re lost?

Green creates a situation unique in character and voice in this comedy about a teenaged prodigy on the verge of discovery. There is a fair amount of crude humor and profanity, although it’s typical of what most teens hear on a daily basis. This is a novel that will appeal more to teens who are of an intellectual bent—Colin strives to fit in while knowing that he’ll always be on a different level than those around him—although it can be enjoyed by any reader with an open mind.

In the end, it’s a good read. Once Colin gets past his obsessions for math, anagramming, and Katherines, he’ll find that even a genius can have a deeply human heart.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
9/13/2006

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