The Genius of Little Things

The Genius of Little Things
by Larry Buhl

235 Pages
Published January 15, 2013

This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen-year-old Tyler’s big dream of becoming a top immunologist could come crashing down if he doesn’t manage all of the little things right now. But when this obsessive-compulsive science geek confronts a school election, a demeaning job, needy tutees, a first girlfriend, and the possible extinction of honeybees, there are suddenly too many things to manage.

Tyler’s catastrophically humorous run for high school student council convinces the principal that he’s a troublemaker, while it wins him the admiration and desire of Rachel, a smart and iconoclastic reporter for the school paper.
A new night job at a nursing home puts Tyler on a collision course with his new foster parents, a childless middle-aged couple with an agenda and a tragic past of their own. And the pain of his mother’s death becomes too big to ignore.

Set on the mean streets of suburban Las Vegas, The Genius of Little Things is about how you can’t always get what you want. But sometimes, well, you know...

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This book has one of the better main characters. He's funny, smart, and focused. He doesn't get hung-up on things he doesn't understand, choosing instead to just move on.

My biggest compliment: While there were parts that were really funny, those same parts were also sad. That's really hard to do without becoming cheesy and melodramatic.

There were times I wanted to toss the book aside. Not because it was badly written, just because the story got slow, or a couple of parts weren't quite believable. It was almost impossible to connect with Tyler -- which I think was done on purpose, because that's the way Tyler is -- but it made it a little hard for me to get through.

3.5/5 stars