King of the Screwups

by K.L. Going

Book Overview

Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity. Everybody loves him. He excels at sports; he knows exactly what clothes to wear; he always ends up with the most beautiful girls in school. But he's got an uncanny ability to screw up in the very ways that tick off his father the most.
When Liam finally kicked out of the house, his father's brother takes him in. What could a teenage chick magnet possibly have in common with his gay, glam rocker, DJ uncle who lives...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547331665
• ISBN13: 9780547331669
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

What a page turner!

I picked this up on a vacation where I had a lot of extra time, and I read it in one evening. I thought the plot and characters kept the pages turning. At first I hated Liam because he's such a mess, but pretty early on, he won me over. His narration is fantastic and authentic. He's his own person and he's definitely a young person. By the end of the story, I really felt for him and hated his father. While others have commented that his father is a flat character and maybe even a cliche, I think that in a first person narration, the father as flat is acceptable. This is how Liam perceives his father. He wants to please him and wants to make excuses for him. Sure, he's somewhat two-dimensional, but more complexity would muddle the story, and it's not the father's story anyway. It's Liam's. I liked the mother and her relationship with Pete, how they were so close. I found it hard to believe that Pete would take such pride in his appearance sometimes, but not others, and that he would live in a pig sty, but I know not all gay men are neat freaks. An earlier critique said this story is typical YA fiction, but I didn't feel that way in the least. While Liam is a screw up and his father is always riding him, he has so much more to deal with. And I think simply having Liam move in with his glam rock band gay uncle is pretty far from normal teen fiction. One of my favorite pieces of this book is that Pete is such a better father to Liam than Allan. He talks to him. He expresses his concern for him, and not only his disappointment. He buy him a birtday gift that Liam actually wants. Pete is a great character and made this book unique. On craft, I think the way Going uses the flashbacks in this story works better than in most books I've read. The flashbacks all come together to create a picture of Liam's youth--the love from him mother, the experiences in fashion, the jealousy/anger of his father. I enjoyed them more as I went on in the reading. I enjoyed FAT KID RULES THE WORLD and KING OF THE SCREWUPS. I'm headed for SAINT IGGY next. Thanks, K.L. Going for some great reading.

Why try to fit in when you were born to be you?

I was sold on this book from the opening chapter about the paternity test, and the amusement never died down. Liam is a popular guy: gorgeous, stylish, nice body, and although he sneaks and does it, he knows the secret to applying make-up too. And no, he's not gay. His mother was a model, and he learned all of his fashion sense from her. Unfortunately, his father is the exact opposite: an intense businessman who seems to be jealous of fashion, popular people, and those who can have people cling to them without working for it. Liam got his charisma from his mother, but the awkward way he finds to say and do the wrong things are all his own. And after one screwup too many, he's sent off to live with his uncle, who is gay, into glam, and wearing women's clothing. Liam's father is not thrilled about it. Liam's mother is all for it. And Liam just wants to have a drama free day. Unfortunately for him, the drama gets worse when he tries his best to be unpopular and turns out even more popular by not trying. I found myself confused by so many of Liam's actions mainly because I have never tried to fit in. I sighed and grumbled through a large amount of the book hoping he'd cut it out already and just be proud to be the handsome, charismatic, popular person he is, and stop trying to please everybody. Now whether he took my unsolicited advice (yes, I talked to the book) is not for me to tell. But what I can tell you is I certainly enjoyed the relationship with Liam, his uncle, and his uncle's friends. Darleen made me want to hang her about as much as I did with Darleen on "Roseanne." How fitting. Great read. I'll probably read it again.

Why try to fit in when you were born to be you?

I was sold on this book from the opening chapter about the paternity test, and the amusement never died down. Liam is a popular guy: gorgeous, stylish, nice body, and although he sneaks and does it, he knows the secret to applying make-up too. And no, he's not gay. His mother was a model, and he learned all of his fashion sense from her. Unfortunately, his father is the exact opposite: an intense businessman who seems to be jealous of fashion, popular people, and those who can have people cling to them without working for it. Liam got his charisma from his mother, but the awkward way he finds to say and do the wrong things are all his own. And after one screwup too many, he's sent off to live with his uncle, who is gay, into glam, and wearing women's clothing. Liam's father is not thrilled about it. Liam's mother is all for it. And Liam just wants to have a drama free day. Unfortunately for him, the drama gets worse when he tries his best to be unpopular and turns out even more popular by not trying. I found myself confused by so many of Liam's actions mainly because I have never tried to fit in. I sighed and grumbled through a large amount of the book hoping he'd cut it out already and just be proud to be the handsome, charismatic, popular person he is, and stop trying to please everybody. Now whether he took my unsolicited advice (yes, I talked to the book) is not for me to tell. But what I can tell you is I certainly enjoyed the relationship with Liam, his uncle, and his uncle's friends. Darleen made me want to hang her about as much as I did with Darleen on "Roseanne." How fitting. Great read. I'll probably read it again.

a great read for teens

This terrific new novel by acclaimed YA novelist K. L. Going tells the story of 17 year old Liam, whose mother is a former top fashion model and dad is the CEO of a major company. Liam, who has inherited his mother's great looks but feels he doesn't have his dad's brains, seems to screw up whatever he does and is sent to live with a gay, cross-dressing, DJ uncle who lives in a trailer park in upstate New York. This is a fresh start for Liam, who has decided to try to NOT be popular (a funny twist on the more typical teen novel where the protagonist is trying to figure out how to be popular). Liam, who is definitely not gay, loves fashion and great clothes and discovers he has his mother's flair for modeling. In the novel, Liam tries to straighten out in order to gain his father's love and acceptance, but in true YA novel fashion, he learns to accept his own strengths and accept himself for who he is. My 14 year old daughter also loved the book, and appreciated that the main character is not the smartest kid in the class, as well as the many details about fashion and school. The characters seem very realistic and well developed, and the author does a great job of combining humor and the pathos of Liam's family situation.

Emotional but great

Liam Geller is and has always been Mr. Popularity. But knowing how to navigate the social scene has only been good for his public image, and unfortunately, this image is what gets him into the most trouble at home. His extremely successful businessman of a father can't understand why someone who shares half his DNA could seem like such a screwup. When Liam's father finally has enough, Liam is kicked out and only reluctantly taken in by his "Aunt" Pete, a gay glam-rocker deejay. A complete and utter change of scenery may be exactly what Liam wants--in order to mold his image into that of a studious and well mannered man his father can be proud of. He figures that as soon as his father catches on, he'll be home in no time. But is that what Liam really needs, to please his father at the expense of his true identity? From the first chapter until the very end, King of the Screwups is a rocky, heart wrenching, and very personal journey. This novel opens with and continues to be interspaced with Liam's flashbacks to hwen he was younger to show the depth of dysfunction in the Geller family, and how that created the person Liam is. It's disturbing how poorly Mr. Geller treats his son Liam and his wife, and even sadder how those two accept Mr. Geller's mean word as truth. This makes Liam such an easy character to care for even though some of his actions are not well thought out or are pathetically defeatist. Going skillfully portrays this difficult environment in which a child cannot earn a parent's approval no matter how hard he tries, and this kept tears rolling down my face. King of the Screwups is the kind of book I'd love to hate but simply cannot; for example, I hate Mr. Geller's selfishness and Mrs. Geller's lack of a backbone, but I love Aunt Pete's well defined attitude and contentedness with life. Liam's story of being able to finally be himself is such a great one in that he has to overcome such mental and emotional challenges. Beautifully and provocatively written and completely realistic, King of the Screwups is a hopeful story that will seize one's heart and never let go. This emotional story will be enjoyed by readers who also liked Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee, Love, Meg by C. Leigh Purtill, and Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers.