From Governor General's Literary Award—winning author Susin Nielsen comes a funny and heartfelt story about learning how to rise above your most embarrassing moment with humor, best friends and a killer triangle solo. Now in paperback!
We all have moments that define us. For the comically clueless Wilbur, his moment happened on the first day of middle school, when someone shared his private letter with the entire student body. It revealed some of Wilbur's innermost embarrassing thoughts that no one else should ever know.
Now it's the start of ninth grade and Wilbur hasn't been able to escape that major humiliation. His good friend Alex stuck by him, but Alex doesn't have as much time since he started dating Fabrizio. Luckily, Wil can confide in his best friend: his elderly neighbor Sal. Also, Wil's in the school band, where he plays the triangle. They're doing an exchange program with students from Paris, and Wilbur's billet, Charlie, a tall, chic young woman who plays the ukulele and burps with abandon, captures his heart. Charlie likes him, but only as a friend. So Alex, Fabrizio and Sal host a Queer Eye-style intervention to get Wil in shape and to build his confidence so he can impress Charlie when their band visits Paris, and just maybe replace humiliation with true romance in the City of Love.
WINNER
| 2023 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards (MYRCA) - Northern Lights Award
WINNER
| 2022 National Chapter IODE Violet Downey Award
NOMINEE
| 2022 Carnegie Medal
NOMINEE
| 2022 Red Maple Award
SHORTLIST
| 2022 Oklahoma Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award
SHORTLIST
| 2022 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
SELECTION
| 2021 OLA Best Bets for Young Adult Fiction
One of CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall 2021 — Starred Pick A Canadian Children's Book Centre Favourite Book of the Year (2021)
“Nielsen presents a realistic teen experience with raw emotions. A heartwarming addition for collections looking for titles with fewer than 200 pages.” —School Library Journal
“Written in first person, the novel is humorous and well-paced with a truly great, heartwarming ending. Highly Recommended.” —CM Reviews
“. . . Worthy of reading by thoughtful and mature teens and pre-teens.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“This is the first day I’ve written in a diary. The reason I am, is ‘cos I love writing stories, and if I do grow up to be a famous writer, and later die, and they want to get a story of my life ... I guess I should keep (one).” SUSIN NIELSEN wrote this poorly constructed sentence when she was eleven years old. And while she isn’t exactly famous (although she likes to think she’s ‘Big in Belgium’), and no one has written the story of her life (maybe because she isn’t dead yet), she did predict her future. She got her start writing for the hit TV series Degrassi Junior High, and went on to write for over twenty Canadian shows. More recently she turned her hand to novel writing. She is the author of five critically-acclaimed and award-winning titles, including Optimists Die First (long-listed for the UKLA 2018 award), We Are All Made of Molecules (winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award and long-listed for UK’s Carnegie Medal), Word Nerd (winner of multiple Young Readers’ Choice Awards) and The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year, and the UK Literacy Award). Rolling Stone magazine put The Reluctant Journal at #27 in their list of “Top 40 Best YA Novels.”
Nielsen has been called ‘The John Green of Canada’ (and she once had a dream that he had been called ‘The Susin Nielsen of the United States’). Her books have been translated into many languages. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her family and two naughty cats.
From Governor General's Literary Award—winning author Susin Nielsen comes a funny and heartfelt story about learning how to rise above your most embarrassing moment with humor, best friends and a killer triangle solo. Now in paperback!
We all have moments that define us. For the comically clueless Wilbur, his moment happened on the first day of middle school, when someone shared his private letter with the entire student body. It revealed some of Wilbur's innermost embarrassing thoughts that no one else should ever know.
Now it's the start of ninth grade and Wilbur hasn't been able to escape that major humiliation. His good friend Alex stuck by him, but Alex doesn't have as much time since he started dating Fabrizio. Luckily, Wil can confide in his best friend: his elderly neighbor Sal. Also, Wil's in the school band, where he plays the triangle. They're doing an exchange program with students from Paris, and Wilbur's billet, Charlie, a tall, chic young woman who plays the ukulele and burps with abandon, captures his heart. Charlie likes him, but only as a friend. So Alex, Fabrizio and Sal host a Queer Eye-style intervention to get Wil in shape and to build his confidence so he can impress Charlie when their band visits Paris, and just maybe replace humiliation with true romance in the City of Love.
Awards
WINNER
| 2023 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards (MYRCA) - Northern Lights Award
WINNER
| 2022 National Chapter IODE Violet Downey Award
NOMINEE
| 2022 Carnegie Medal
NOMINEE
| 2022 Red Maple Award
SHORTLIST
| 2022 Oklahoma Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award
SHORTLIST
| 2022 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
SELECTION
| 2021 OLA Best Bets for Young Adult Fiction
Praise
One of CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall 2021 — Starred Pick A Canadian Children's Book Centre Favourite Book of the Year (2021)
“Nielsen presents a realistic teen experience with raw emotions. A heartwarming addition for collections looking for titles with fewer than 200 pages.” —School Library Journal
“Written in first person, the novel is humorous and well-paced with a truly great, heartwarming ending. Highly Recommended.” —CM Reviews
“. . . Worthy of reading by thoughtful and mature teens and pre-teens.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“This is the first day I’ve written in a diary. The reason I am, is ‘cos I love writing stories, and if I do grow up to be a famous writer, and later die, and they want to get a story of my life ... I guess I should keep (one).” SUSIN NIELSEN wrote this poorly constructed sentence when she was eleven years old. And while she isn’t exactly famous (although she likes to think she’s ‘Big in Belgium’), and no one has written the story of her life (maybe because she isn’t dead yet), she did predict her future. She got her start writing for the hit TV series Degrassi Junior High, and went on to write for over twenty Canadian shows. More recently she turned her hand to novel writing. She is the author of five critically-acclaimed and award-winning titles, including Optimists Die First (long-listed for the UKLA 2018 award), We Are All Made of Molecules (winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award and long-listed for UK’s Carnegie Medal), Word Nerd (winner of multiple Young Readers’ Choice Awards) and The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year, and the UK Literacy Award). Rolling Stone magazine put The Reluctant Journal at #27 in their list of “Top 40 Best YA Novels.”
Nielsen has been called ‘The John Green of Canada’ (and she once had a dream that he had been called ‘The Susin Nielsen of the United States’). Her books have been translated into many languages. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her family and two naughty cats.
