12 Things to do Before you Crash and Burn, by James Proimos

Proimos takes the reader through a whirlwind of events in 12 things to do Before You Crash and Burn, as Hercules (a childhood name that stuck) makes the most of being sent to stay with his Uncle Anthony in Baltimore following the death of his father. As the story progresses, the reader finds out that Herc didn't have the best relationship with his distant father, but the two weeks spent in a different city with a list of tasks to complete from his uncle seem to be just the thing to help Hercules allow himself to come to terms with the passing of his father. The "unattainable girl" that he first runs into on the train is at the center of the Herc's adventures as he goes out of his way to find out who she is and how to meet her, all thanks to a book Herc thinks she left on the train.

This was an extremely fast read, being that it is told in a stream-of-consciousness manner and has very short chapters. While the events didn't seem completely plausible, like a girl that is a stranger making out with him after a minute of talking or the fact that they are able to reunite by way of a lost and found, it is nice to think that these sort of things could happen...and maybe in a perfect teenage world they do. One thing I would warn readers about is the amount of questionable vocabulary that is used. While it is appropriate for the story, it is definitely not ok for 6th grade up, as some of the recommendations stated.