Seventeen-year-old Trevor can't catch a break. Just when he finds out that Janna, the girl of his dreams, is finally available, his mom tells him he's being shipped off to a boarding school because of his awful grades. A desperate call to his dad, who owns a rubber chicken factory in Las Vegas, gets him nowhere. His father is more interested in enlisting Trevor's aid writing what he sees as the perfect gag gift – a how-to manual about rubber chickens. That's Trevor's life for you. Everyone around him is totally and utterly insane.

But there's still Janna. He's had a crush on her since sixth grade. Can he get himself to say the words to her that he's been rehearsing for years? He finally musters the courage to visit her house and find out.

That's when everything goes crazy.

*****

Grade 10 Up - "My dad owns a rubber chicken factory." With this zany first line, readers are launched on a surprisingly poignant coming-of-age journey. Part buddy story, part road trip adventure, and part ruminations on the difference between love and infatuation, Carter offers up a vivid portrait of a young man – Trevor Livingston – who blunders into a thousand-mile quest to tell the girl of his dreams how he really feels about her. Although the book is appropriate for more mature young adult readers, adults may find even greater enjoyment in Trevor's distinctive voice and abundant references to popular culture – Star Trek and The Princess Bride, for example, are favorite targets. Fans of Carter's award-winning first novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, are certain to find this heartfelt look at the angst and insanity of modern adolescence an equally riveting read.

****

Note: As a bonus exclusively to the print edition, excerpts from The Care and Feeding of Rubber Chickens: A Manual are included at the beginning of each chapter.