Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar (Review)

Finished: September 14, 2017

Page Count: 279

Genre: Realistic Fiction

 

            Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar is a story about a high school freshman which is oh so obvious due to the title. Why would I, a sophomore who despised their freshman year, decided to read such a book? It’s got your generic unsuspecting newbie and his three friends getting ready to go to high school with a little bit of old friends suddenly becoming pretty, senior (and/or not senior) bullies, lots of homework, and a new baby sibling on its way mixed in. Truly your average high school oriented story. Surprisingly, Lubar was somehow able to captivate me in less than ten pages and convince me to finish reading the book within a day.

            Perhaps I best start with the core structures of the book. The main character, Scott Hudson, is a good-natured boy with a good sense of right and wrong thanks to having an elder sibling go through life before him. He’s not the annoying goody-two-shoes, Mary Sue character that end up in literature (purposely or not), and I witnessed this in his reluctance to step in for others and his compassionate distaste towards Mouth. Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself here talking about character development out of order and stuff. I’m going to type it right now, a well-written main character is key to a good story for me (but trash main character with a great supporting cast can sometimes make a good story), and Scott is a fascinating main character.

            So I mentioned that Scott is a bookworm earlier (or maybe not), but that term may not do him justice. Scott is really more of a hardcore bookworm, for English is his best subject and he even spends his free time coming up with Tom Swifties and go as far as writing something on a subject (sports) he doesn’t enjoy. His friends Kyle, Patrick and Mitch are all ready to stick out the year together but surprise, surprise, they gang doesn’t stick together which is a truly riveting plot twist. Personally, I shouldn’t be surprised, as in my experience, I don’t go out of my way to communicate with people and stay friends with them for too long. Their break up is realistic and slow however, for Mitch gets a girlfriend first, then Patrick moves to Texas then Japan, and finally Kyle joins a bunch of sports and ends up hanging out with his teammates. I could totally relate to the situation and felt super happy (and depressed) for knowing what this experience is like. Any who, despite these losses, Scott makes new friends in the forms of Lee, the gothic bookworm with few friends who isn’t afraid to be herself, Mouth, who always finds comfort in venting to Scott, and Wesley, the shady senior with a bad reputation who eventually becomes a very dependable friend to Scott. All of these people, and more are the gears working together to drive Scott the car, up the ever so steep hill of maturity. A huge theme in this book was relationships and oh my Lord, were there a ton far too many to go over in detail for this would quickly become a tedious and repetitive review so I’ll try to be brief.

            First there’s Kyle, the friends who stuck it out with Scott the longest till they eventually developed bad blood between each other due to their differences in academic and athletic success as well as their differing opinions on Lee. He showed Scott that people changed and not all friendships were meant to last, as well as giving him the confidence to have faith in his own abilities. Then Patrick, who was ever so loyal, yet forced to move helped show Scott that sometimes our environments can destroy the tightest of bonds unless we’re willing to resist the storm. Mitch showed Scott that different goals can cause others to drift away and Mouth taught Scott the importance of being kind despite not wanting to (one of the hardest hitting lessons and saddest things about the book as Mouth attempted suicide due to not being liked, which was unsuspectingly dark for the book. Similar situation for the touching Tobie story where, Scott developed his love of reading out of guilt for not listening to a kid in the hospital talk about book that later died and had his parents send him a bunch of book to read. Real heartwarming seeing the two interact after the incident though). Lee taught Scott not to judge a book by its cover as well as much about literature and caused him to reflect on many of his choices due to her words, and the same can be said for Wesley (teaching him not to judge a book by its cover). Scott’s parents provide support and guidance for him in his attempts to court his childhood friend Julia. Julia herself was set up as the beautiful love interest for Scott (though thankfully Scott and Lee started to get together before that cliché could happen here) and was his motivation for trying out the school newspaper, student council, and the musical. Then there’s Bobby, Scott’s older brother who came home one day and was able to support and give Scott advice from one of his oldest and most trusted friends, who showed him that no one truly has life figured out. Mr. Franka, Scott’s English teacher, believed in him and pushed him towards pursing his dreams, and Mr. Cravutto, Scott’s coach, pushed him to work harder. Of course there was Vernon, the typical bully (who for some reason Lubar seemed to avoid talking about what grade he was in or I didn’t pay attention) that challenged Scott, helped force him into making friends with Wesley and not starting a relationship with Julia. As a bonus, it was a nice revelation to know he isn’t truly a threat, but rather someone driven by fear and picked on other to feel better. Finally, and (maybe) most importantly is Sean, though he’s constantly referred to with a crude alias such as, “Smelly.” Sean is Scotts unborn baby brother till chapter thirty-two and is the reason he writes his high school survival guide, which allows him to reflect on his life and collect important notes.

            Well, that was quite a mouthful to swallow and probably poorly organized, which I apologize for. You can call me a sap for character interactions and I won’t deny it. Scott’s interactions with his family, friends, enemies and acquaintance are what really gave the story its sparkle and are what I enjoyed the most. The experience was even more enjoyable since the main character was successful in his freshman year (unlike me) and a guy (also unlike me). Reading the books was like reliving my freshman year, but with more satisfying results and as not as a girl (I can’t be the only one who’s wondered what it’d be like to be the opposing gender, can I?) Assuming that the book is very realistic, despite being written many years prior to today, I now have a deeper understanding of the male mindset and am aware that they are just as clueless and self-doubting as us women (assuming my thoughts are slightly similar to other women’s). All in all, I recommend that you read this book if you wish to relive your freshmen year and get a happy ending, or simply enjoy bildungsroman novels (cause that’s kinda what this is), or deep character relationships. These indeed made the plot greatly endurable and have given me a new, much brighter perspective on freshman year.