* Kirkus Reviews 2011 Top books for teens in U.S.
* Fall 2011 selection for Young Adults (mature) - Junior Library Guild, U.S.
* Quill & Quire 2011 Top books for young readers in Canada
* CBC Radio The Next Chapter Selection
* Fall 2011 selection for Young Adults (mature) - Junior Library Guild, U.S.
* Quill & Quire 2011 Top books for young readers in Canada
* CBC Radio The Next Chapter Selection
A funny, sexy novel about a teenaged boy's obsessions as he lives through an impossibly absurd time of life
"Do you think he can just stay in there?" Janine asked.
They were both on their knees looking in the cupboard. Her mouth was so close to his he had to pull back to miss it.
Her hand was on his thigh. For balance.
"Can't be very comfortable," he said.
If she pushed slightly she could knock him flat on his back.
"I'd love to see your room," she whispered.
Published by: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi
Available now in better bookstores!
Author Alan Cumyn. Photo by Anna Cumyn
"Book that made me giggle hysterically in public: Tilt, by Alan Cumyn. I had no idea how much 16-year-old boys thought about sex until I read this book. Poor Stan. Despite the continual betrayals of his body, particularly when he thinks about the divine Janine Igwash, he is nevertheless the most responsible member of his household, parenting both his genius little sister and his feckless mother. Then the father who abandoned them reappears, with the child of the affair that broke up the family. Incredibly, the story of how Stan mans up and handles this chaos is both touching and incredibly funny. I read it on an airplane. Big mistake. I actually snorted."
Vicky Smith, Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice Top Teen Fiction 2011
"Cumyn writes with an artless, resilient quirkiness, a wry plainspoken inventiveness that instantly animates scenes and characters."
Starred review, Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books
"A masterful writer..."
CBC Radio The Next Page
"A complex and always engaging novel, this is a thoroughly satisfying read."
Toronto Star
"It is perhaps not surprising, given Cumyn’s artistic prowess, that Stan’s getting to first base (and beyond) with Janine, all the while contending with a distracted, more-or-less-at-sea single mother, a needy younger sister and an AWOL father, forms the basis of a delightful novel, one that is smart, tender and funny in all the right places, and one in which fully drawn, wonderfully alive characters vie for our attention. "
The Globe and Mail
"There is a lot of sex in this book, both real and imagined, but it’s depicted in a manner that comes across as funny and honest rather than salacious. Cumyn’s novel, while simple on the surface, elevates the boy-meets-girl formula to become a touching, nuanced portrayal of a boy reaching tentatively into maturity."
Quill & Quire
Vicky Smith, Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice Top Teen Fiction 2011
"Cumyn writes with an artless, resilient quirkiness, a wry plainspoken inventiveness that instantly animates scenes and characters."
Starred review, Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books
"A masterful writer..."
CBC Radio The Next Page
"A complex and always engaging novel, this is a thoroughly satisfying read."
Toronto Star
"It is perhaps not surprising, given Cumyn’s artistic prowess, that Stan’s getting to first base (and beyond) with Janine, all the while contending with a distracted, more-or-less-at-sea single mother, a needy younger sister and an AWOL father, forms the basis of a delightful novel, one that is smart, tender and funny in all the right places, and one in which fully drawn, wonderfully alive characters vie for our attention. "
The Globe and Mail
"There is a lot of sex in this book, both real and imagined, but it’s depicted in a manner that comes across as funny and honest rather than salacious. Cumyn’s novel, while simple on the surface, elevates the boy-meets-girl formula to become a touching, nuanced portrayal of a boy reaching tentatively into maturity."
Quill & Quire
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