Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence [Paperback]

Paul Feig tells of his geeky and embarrasing adventure throughout school. Never have I laughed so much from reading a book. From his showering in gym escapade to the first time he discovered, erm, self love.

This is a must read for anyone who ever felt left out or completely embarrased during their school days. In fact this should be part of the required reading for school kids so they can see it could always be worse.

All jocks and cheerleader should pass, as they'll probably laughing at instead of with.

My favourite part of the book was the beginning of the first chapter. Paul talks about how it's not fair that kids are named such brutal names such as Cox or Seaman. It is my favourite part because it is SO true. Kids can take any name, any name at all and turn it into something that just asks to be teased about.

Paul recounts his first loves, gym class, his first sexual stirrings, his fears and phobias, being bullied and most of all, being called a fag. Paul Feig was an adolescent in the 70's and everyone around him was calling everyone else a fag. Most of them probably didn't even know what it meant they just knew it was 'something they didn't want to be,' and so they called everyone else one.

Having just recently read about Homophobia, it was disconcerting to see the word so many times throughout the book. However this is not the fault of the author, but of the ignorant people who let their kids get away with such rude words. Things are different now than they were in the 70's (so I'm told since I wasn't yet born) regarding homosexuality but it still irks me to no end how cruel and demeaning people can be. Anyone feeling the same way may have some troubles getting through that chapter as I did. This is just a warning and does not take away from the rating of this book.

Kick me is written in an easy to read format and you don't have to be a college student to understand his writing. This is refreshing as a lot of books can be hard to follow if you don't have a certain level of reading ability. There is a lot of foul language in this book because Paul is recounting his adolescence and to block out what his peers said would greatly diminish the book. Although this is about adolescence, I would recommend this book to adults, not to adolescents. I would say 16 or over.

There were a couple of times when I wanted to know more than what was published. I almost want to contact Mr. Feig to ask him some questions. For instance, when he talks about kissing Cathy and how by the look on her face, he isn't sure if it was the best or worst kiss she had ever gotten. That is the end of the chapter and I'd like to know what happened between them after that. Was it the best or the worst? Did they ever talk again? Or date again?

Overall Kick Me was a well written and interesting book and it's nice to see something different being published.

Paul was a quiet and fearful boy obsessed with germs, undressing in the boy's locker room, and dealing with girls. He alternately either tried to gain acceptance from, or avoided the attention of, the other kids... all of which, of course, made him the target of ridicule or worse. He describes every anxious moment in his childhood from his unusual homemade elf costume in his first grade class play to his misgivings about his date at the senior prom. I suffered along with him on horrendous school bus trips. I felt sympathy for him when his teacher mispronounced his last name, prompting his classmates to dub him with an unfortunate permanent nickname. I cringed at his Little League and football announcer fiascos. I rooted for him when he performed in the school talent show. I worried about his decision to dress in his Mom's clothing for Halloween. And above all else, I laughed.

These stories are not just funny, however. They are masterpieces of observation about the social interactions among kids, or between kids and their parents and teachers. The anecdotes are undoubtedly exaggerated for effect, yet they ring true because they describe every adolescent's fears of fitting in. I recommend this well written and highly entertaining book.

Eileen Rieback