Jerry Spinelli

What is stargazer, skateboarder, chess champ, pepperoni pizza eater, older brother, sister hater, best friend, first kisser, science geek, control freak Will Tuppence so afraid of in this great big universe? Jerry Spinelli knows.

Smiles to Go

Katie Day

** spoiler alert **
           First-person narrative. High school freshman boy, Will Tuppence -- has an annoying little five-year-old sister Tabby. His earth-shattering moments include the moment he realized (at age five) that everything is made of protons, the moment he discovered (at age fifteen) that a proton was dead, and the moment he realized his two best friends -- the ones he plays Monopoly with every Saturday night -- Mi-Su and BT (Anthony Bontempo) -- are in a relationship. BT is famous for being the first person to skateboard down Dead Man's Hill.

Eventually Will lays a plan and builds up his own courage to kiss Mi-Su, though frustratingly he's not sure he's really won the girl. Meanwhile, his sister Tabby makes his life miserable and while he does his best to ignore her, when she finally causes a family crisis by running away and skating down Dead Man's Hill on his Black Viper skateboard (which she's not allowed to touch) - and ends up in intensive care, he realizes that she desperately loves him and he loves her.

A kid focusing on the stars finally learns to see the people around him -- all of whom love him.

Sibling relationships... first love relationships...

Smiles to Go

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