An honest, insightful novel about a young man's final year in high school and his eventual decision, which he initially conceals from his family, to join the Marines. At the outset, Sean spends a lot of time ducking the chiding of his overbearing older brother and cursing the crappy rental he and his mom have lived in since she left his alcoholic father. When he manages to hook up with superhot Hallie the summer before she leaves for college, he thinks his luck may finally be changing. However, as he navigates his way through an emotionally trying senior year, it turns out instead to be his friend and co-worker, Neecie, who he just may be falling for. Intensely introspective first-person narration suits Sean's stoic character very well. His thoughts are often both subversively smart and hilarious--particularly in their treatment of the subtext of communication across gender. When Hallie worries that he's upset that she doesn't want to have sex at first, he thinks, incredulously: Was she kidding? We were almost naked. My hands were on her tits. She was giving me a handjob. Why would I be mad? Engaging, perceptive, witty and at times gut-wrenchingly sad--this is an extraordinary addition to fiction for teens and adults alike. --starred, Kirkus Reviews
-- "Journal"
As his junior year ends, people keep asking Sean Norwhalt what he'll do next. But it's hard to focus on that, when his alcoholic father is gone and he's living with his mother in a crappy rental. Then a pretty senior's Frisbee hits in him the face, and suddenly he has a girlfriend--his first. Mesrobian, who took on hookup culture in her acclaimed debut, Sex and Violence, excels at conveying the awkwardness and wonder of sex, and the erotic life of a teenage boy (in this case featuring Sean's constant, albeit inconvenient hormonal companion, 'The Horn'). Sean's not interested in college, and the main events of senior year are his job at the Thrift Bin; his growing friendship with Neecie, a classmate and co-worker with her own sex quandary; and deciding whether to join the Marines. As Sean comes to some peace with his family, spends time with Neecie, and makes some decisions, nothing very dramatic happens. Yet Mesrobian deftly conveys just how much drama there is in the everyday, especially for a 17-year-old trying to figure out not just what's next, but what's happening right now. --starred, Publishers Weekly
-- "Journal"
Carrie Mesrobian writes with a raw, courageous honesty that begs readers to pay attention. Perfectly Good White Boy is a perfectly great, moving, and memorable story about growing up in an often ridiculous world. --John Corey Whaley, Printz Award-winning author of Where Things Come Back and Noggin
-- "Other Print"
Raw and unflinching, this is a skilled portrait of an eighteen-year-old on the edge of making a decision that will shape the whole rest of his life. Carrie Mesrobian is a truly fearless writer, one to envy and watch. --Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone
-- "Other Print"
Sean Norwhalt is looking at the end of his high school years and the prospect is underwhelming. Hallie, the hot girl who adopted him as a kind of plug-in boyfriend for her senior summer, has dumped him on her way to college. His after-school work at the Thrift Bin sorting old clothes feels like his own life. His alcoholic dad is finally in treatment, his overworked mom is divorcing his dad, and Sean is thinking about the Marines.
These threads, worn and vivid, weave themselves into a pattern around Neecie Albertson, genuinely odd and deeply lovable. The tale of Neecie and Sean doesn't have the finality of a classic, but it's charged with a truth and an ambiguity that makes hope and love believable.
Carrie Mesrobian's first novel, 'Sex and Violence, ' won many awards, including a Minnesota Book Award. This second outing proves it was no fluke. --Star Tribune
-- "Newspaper"
Sean's junior year of high school was crap, and he expected the following summer to be crap, too, but then beautiful Hallie picks him up at a party. It feels good, and Sean wants something to feel good about and help him envision himself as someone other than a loser with an alcoholic dad and missed scholarships. As Sean begins his senior year, Hallie heads off to college, and Sean becomes fascinated with Neecie, his coworker at the thrift store. Mesrobian, whose debut novel, Sex & Violence (2013), was a Morris Award finalist, explores the emotional territory of serial hookups, as both Neecie and Sean have covert sexual partners. Sean's distinctly male narration is saturated with his loneliness and depression. When he reveals that he has signed up to join the marine corps after graduation, Sean's friends are appalled. Hasn't he seen the movie Full Metal Jacket? Once again it seems as if Sean has blown it. This slice-of-life novel should appeal to mature readers who are puzzling through their own nexus of paths towards the future. --Booklist
-- "Journal"
