Russians, Nazis and idiots” who are not invited to his crush Tatiana’s birthday party, he is devastated. When German eighth-grader Mike Klingenberg discovers that he’s among the few “Boring kids and losers. German novelist Herrndorf makes his YA (and U.S.) debut with this action- and emotion-packed story of surprise summer adventure. Each episode in the boys’ journey grows more outrageous, leading readers to wonder how far they’ll go before coming to a literal screeching (and squealing) halt.In his first novel translated into English, Herrndorf sits squarely and triumphantly at the intersection of literary tall tale and coming-of-age picaresque.
Their road trip (destination: Wallachia, a German euphemism for “the middle of nowhere” also a region of Romania) is peopled by unexpected, often bizarre, largely benign characters who deepen Mike’s appreciation for humanity and life. Tschick, meanwhile, is a badly dressed Russian immigrant who often shows up to school reeking of alcohol and who is also given to profound leaps of psychological insight. Mike’s rich interior life-he meditates on beauty and the meaning of life and spins self-mocking fantasies of himself as a great essayist-hasn’t translated well to the flirtatious physical swagger required by 8th grade. Just as he’s watering the lawn, imagining himself lord of a very small manor in suburban Berlin, class reject Tschick shows up in a “borrowed” old Soviet-era car, and the boys hatch a plan to hit the road. Mike Klingenberg has just finished another boring, socially awkward year in middle school and is staring down a solitary two-week stint at home, thanks to his mother’s latest round of rehab and his father’s “business trip” with a suspiciously attractive personal assistant.
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