Cliff Hubbard
is a huge loser. Literally.
His nickname at Happy Valley High School is
Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He
has nobody at school, and life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to
worse ever since his older brother's suicide.
There's no
one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman.
Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre
claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do
to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who
can help: Neanderthal.
To his own
surprise, Cliff says he's in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List,
which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a
decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the
meanest bully at HVHS, Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first
time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it
seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their
mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.
Razor sharp,
moving, and outrageously funny, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe
is an unforgettable story of finding your place in an imperfect world.
*"Funny
and sweetly oddball book... At the story's core is an unsentimental treatment
of a bullied kid and his one-time bully discovering their commonalities. That
Norton accomplishes this without moralizing and in inventively rhythmic and
pop-culture-saturated language only adds to the fun."―Publishers
Weekly (starred review)
*"The book... cogently explores large issues that plague and perplex teens... Will appeal to teens who are, themselves, seeking doors to the universe."―Booklist (starred review)
*"The book... cogently explores large issues that plague and perplex teens... Will appeal to teens who are, themselves, seeking doors to the universe."―Booklist (starred review)