October 13, 2014
In an autobiographical account that’s equal parts hilarious and cringe-inducing, Sundquist—a Paralympic ski racer, cancer survivor, and motivational speaker—uses scientific methodology, complete with hypotheses and graphs, to analyze his not-so-successful history with women. Having an amputated leg never stopped Josh from attempting to date girls while he was growing up, but his insecurities and misinterpretations led to some awkward (and funny) moments. For example, there was the time he fell down on a golf date and ended up with his artificial foot pointing the wrong way (“You can’t imagine the horror on the faces of the other golfers as they stared at a leg apparently so severely fractured that the foot was now capable of rotating 180 degrees”). From Josh’s first “relationship” in middle school (which lasted 23 hours) to later ones in college, romance never had time to blossom. While his recent interviews and meetings with the girls from his past are often just as uncomfortable as their dates were, they also lead to answers as genuine as his narrative. Ages 12–up. Agent: Lucy Carson, Friedrich Agency.
October 15, 2014
A fondness for math plus a self-deprecating sense of humor equals Sundquist's memoir of dating and self-acceptance. Who says you won't use math and science later in life? Reflecting on spending 25 years without a girlfriend, Paralympic skier Sundquist quirkily applies the scientific method to his attempts at dating from eighth grade to college. Was he rejected because he studied SAT words for fun? Or maybe because he accidentally chopped down a tree with his prosthesis? To test his hypotheses, he interviews each girl and reaches a startling, surprisingly emotional conclusion that gives new meaning to the phrase "It's not you, it's me." This is no dry dissection, however; as Sundquist notes, "fighting emotion with logic is like bringing a calculator to a knife fight." Nor does it fall into an overtly inspirational, relentlessly cheerful tone. Sundquist is a storyteller-flawed, wry, laid-back and sympathetic. Anyone who's felt awkward will alternately (or simultaneously) wince and burst out laughing at his earnest misadventures with stalkers, "Close Fast Dancing" and flow charts. Readers will learn about love, self-esteem and even Venn diagrams thanks to tongue-in-cheek visual aids ribbing everything from Sundquist's limb count to bad pickup lines, but above all, they'll be rooting for Sundquist to hang out with a girl. Funny, sympathetic and poignant, Sundquist's memoir has a high probability of success. (Memoir. 13 & up)
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October 1, 2014
Gr 9 Up-Sundquist, a motivational speaker, author, and Paralympic ski racer (he lost his left leg to Ewing's sarcoma at age nine), has had terrible luck with the ladies. In this laugh-out-loud memoir, he attempts to figure out why he can't catch a break, exploring the matter scientifically by analyzing and hypothesizing about each of his failed relationships, starting with his first girlfriend in the eighth grade. Sundquist tracks down the various women he's dated and interviews them to test his hypotheses. Each section of the book is dedicated to a different girlfriend and time period in Josh's life. His various theories are often illustrated through hilarious charts and graphs, adding to the lab report feel of the book. This is a unique, earnest, and funny coming-of-age story about Sundquist's experiences as a cancer survivor, amputee, Paralympic ski racer, and motivational speaker. Readers will appreciate the humorous and often embarrassingly accurate tales depicted in the pages of this book.-Annalise Ammer, City of Rochester Public Libraries, NY
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2014
Grades 8-11 At age 25, Josh Sundquist realizes he has only ever had one girlfriendand that relationship lasted less than 24 hours. What made him incapable of having a relationship? Was it because of his prosthetic leg? Much better at science than at dating, Josh decides to recount his past dates and crushes to create a hypothesis for what went wrong, and then track down each girl to ask her what the heck happened. This is a hilarious and heartfelt memoir about a boy from a conservative Christian family navigating public school for the first time and trying to figure out who exactly he iswithout being defined by his disability. Josh's voice is engaging and conversational, and readers will relate as they laugh along at his misadventures. From a disastrous mini-golf date to just general, suffusing awkwardness, Josh (who grew up to be a Paralympic ski racer) discovers that revisiting the past can be both embarrassing and enlightening. Irresistible fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)