Tod Munn is a bully who extorts money from weaker classmates, not just to be mean, but because he has no lunch money. One of his misdeeds lands him in daily detention under the supervision of his school counselor, Mrs. Woodrow. All she requires of him is that he write about himself in a notebook (he won't call it a journal) during the time he spends there. The novel is made up of his entries, including details of his home life, his droogs (friends), his misdeeds, and successes. It turns out that Tod is not the loser everyone, including the school teachers, administrators, and security guards, think that he is. When he gets roped into helping a strange Goth chick with her play you get to see another side of Tod that is not what you expect. His droogs are angry because he got the cushy detention and they are stuck cleaning up trash around the school every day and then appears to have befriended that weird girl. Good guys turn out to be the bad guys and vice versa in this well written and interesting young adult novel. I got so caught up in Tod's story I even passed on watching the "Eureka" season premiere to finish it. This is going on my "best of the year" list.
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