“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.” (p. 110)

Gunshot, Tennessee is home to the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and a tampon string factory. For the summer, it is also home to washed-up child prodigy Colin and his Judge Judy-loving best friend Hassan, who cut short a road-trip to record the town’s oral histories for the factory owner. They board with her and her daughter, Lindsey, while Colin tries to get over being dumped by his nineteenth Katherine. Along the way, Colin works on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, attempting to graph each of his failed relationships and predict the course of any future relationship. Things, of course, are not simple, as Colin is distracted by a girl who is not named Katherine, a feral hog hunt, and a few town secrets. Will Colin have his Eureka moment? Prove his Theorem? Matter? Be betrayed by his memory? Learn to tell a story? Get the girl? Get out of Gunshot alive?

Green’s second novel is a witty, off-beat charmer with a snappy pace and dialogue. The plot is almost irrelevant at times, as the characters pull you along for the ride. It is, in a sense, the classic road-trip story of self-discovery and friendship, although the characters spend more page-time driving to Hardee’s for Monster Thickburgers than they do in road-tripping. Although Colin’s Theorem figures heavily into the story, the math never takes over, being carefully consigned to footnotes and an appendix. More smart-assed than intellectual, the story should have wide appeal with high school students and up. Some language, a physical fight, and a scene of two characters caught having sex serve the story and do not feel gratuitous. Themes of rejection, romance, motivation (or lack thereof), the nature of popularity, and finding your place in the world make this a classic story for young adults.