The Down Side of Being Up by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

“I get 18 boners a day” said Bobby Conner. Puberty is a big problem for everyone but is an especially big problem for Bobby Boner in Middle School, as it is conspiring against him. I think this is so far
the funniest book that I have read and it is great and a fast read for me. This book The Downside of Being  UP was written by Alan Lawrence Sitomer who is a middle school teacher and sees these things happening every day.  This is a great book to explain the problems that boys may face on a daily basis.
Bobby Conner just wanted to be a normal kid with a normal childhood but puberty is making this a big challenge though, so he ends up being sent to correctional therapy, then he is sentenced to write a book about his experiences. His sister hates him and his grandpa is stuck living with them, and he has a belly button with naval mucus that has to be cleaned out every second Tuesday of the month. “Look, I’m just a kid. I’m not a dork, a jock, a brain, a freak or a perv.” As all this is going on, he meets his dream girl Allison Summers, but her dad is the new math teacher and there’s a mutual hate?I feel like the way the plot had followed Bobby’s problems around was pretty good and how that the problems he faces are almost the same from what every teenage boy goes through. It was viewed from the perspective of an adolescent teenager facing many challenges from his body. Most writers don’t have a clue on what most boys are going through now-a-days. Although when you are a middle school teacher like Alan Sitomer, you have a front row seat to all the things that are going on with a young adult. With all the changes that are going on and all the torment that a lot of them go through, the characters are easy to follow and most people can relate to their problems. This is a great read and a funny one and I recommend this book to people who like to laugh.This Book was a great and fast read for me, there is a little swearing in this book and it is a very funny book. Books can be easy to read and very funny.

-Reviewed by Tyler