After Liam Geller’s controlling, distant, high-achieving father kicks him out of the house for screwing up once too often, Liam ends up living with “aunt” Pete, his gay uncle who lives in a trailer park in Upstate New York. Liam’s culture shock after life with his dad and mom, a former supermodel, is nothing compared to his sense of loss and longing—for support from his mother and approval from his father. Determined to prove that he strives for more than good looks and popularity, Liam tries to become one of the un popular kids at his new school. But when he manages to turn even AV club into something cool, Liam knows he’s failed at being an outcast. Liam’s attempts at unpopularity are hilarious, but the underlying current of his story is achingly painful as K. L. Going explores the life of a teenage boy torn apart by his father’s rejection. A cast of fully realized, appealing secondary characters who support and challenge Liam to be and value himself, and to pursue his interest in modeling in fashion, enrich Going’s masterful, entertaining novel. (Age 14 and older)