Summary:
Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.
Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
My take: 3 looks
Interesting young adult book (although, the prolific use of expletives would trend toward the older young adults) about a road trip taken by two male unabashed brilliant geeks. The writing is clever and brought a smile to my face more than once. The idea that relationships can be charted, graphed and ultimate outcome predicted by a very complex mathematical formula is the basis of the book. Colin just lost his 19th girlfriend, all of whom have been named Katherine. It’s a coming-of-age novel that would have made a great John Hughes movie.
Recommended.
