This book is about a middle school boy who gets a lot of boners. While it dove into the boner issue right away, it didn't mention it at all on the jacket flap, which I think is a bit of a misrepresentation. Lots of juvenile toiler humor in this one as well as penis jokes that are kind of funny at first, but wear out quickly. Probably hilarious to the 5th-8th grade set - it is clearly written with the lowest of the YA range in mind. As other reviewers have said, I am so not the target audience for this book. (I keep hearing it called "Judy Blume for boys," which is odd considering how many of her books are already great for boys, but I get the idea.) Lots and lots of gross-out humor. There is a nice story underneath, and I wound up liking the girl who is Bobby's crush-- she actually gets to be a real person. I don't think I could manage to recommend it to my sixth graders without blushing furiously, but I won't need to. One kid will discover it and it will make the rounds without any help. Especially after it starts getting banned (if it hasn't already).
What do You think about The Downside Of Being Up (2011)?
Had some funny parts, but tried too hard to make it inappropriate to impress middle school boys.
—josephyak
Very funny! Some of the names are hysterical!
—Austin
