Sorry, Charlie

You thought you had it bad in high school? Awkward, big-eared and six-foot-four, senior Charles Stewart II is routinely ridiculed. He even gets peed on by a classmate in Drew Ferguson’s bittersweet debut novel The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second (out August 26), an unflinchingly honest — and really funny — gay-teen coming-of-age tale.

Told through Charlie’s journal entries, Second is a voyeuristic peek into everyday struggles so personal you almost feel guilty for reading. Like when his mother walks in on him "rubbing one out": “I was too far along to stop. I already had that Jerry’s Kids look on my face — the twitchy, stupid, vacant eyes, the drool pooling at the corner of my mouth…”

Obsessively written about in his diary: Cute gay transfer student Rob, who takes a liking to Charlie. Here, Ferguson nails the anxiety and insecurity of a teenager with a first crush. Contemplating calling Rob, Charlie worries, “What if my voice wasn’t deep enough and Rob, thinking I was some four year old girl. . . hangs up?” In spite of his neuroses — and because of them — you can’t help but hope that lonely Charlie catches a break and finds some love.

The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second will be available August 26 from Kensington Books.

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