The Outstanding Life of an Awkward Theater Kid: God, I’ll Do Anything—Just Don’t Let Me Fail

by Ted Kluck, Daniel Hawkins (Visual Art)

Can Flex Deal with the Drama?
 
Flex is a football player, not an actor. But he can fake it if it means getting to see KK, the girl he’s dating (sort of—it’s complicated), every day after school for about a month.   
 
This play isn’t for the weak, though. First, Flex has to deal with his nemesis, Actor Boy, the guy who greets girls with kisses on either cheek. C’mon, dude. Really?!?
 
Then there’s the whole Shakespeare thing. What was “Bill” thinking when he wrote this gobbledygook? Thou dost protest…seriously.
 
Meanwhile KK is hanging out with Watson, the King of the Youth Group, and no amount of video game playing is going to make Flex feel okay about that. He’d better get his jealousy in check before KK checks out on him for good.
 
But with some encouragement from Mimi and Pops (his mom and dad), a little advice from an unlikely ally, and a whole lot of truth from God’s awesome book, Flex might just turn his fear of failure into a performance befitting of the bard himself. Or at the very least, get KK to return his texts.       
 

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2020

About the author

Ted Kluck writes on topics ranging from Mike Tyson to the Emergent Church. Ted has played professional indoor football, coached high school football, trained as a professional wrestler, served as a missionary, and taught writing courses at the college level.

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the illustrations more than the story.
It's a sweet story about a boy wanting to give a try at theatre (not in the real sense but in a school kind of theatre/play setting) for his own personal reasons with his dad giving all the support he needs. It's a sweet story. I love the interaction between the parents and their kids, especially between that of the main character and his dad.
One important lesson to learn from this book is not to judge a person too soon. I love the heart-to-heart conversations not just between the father and the son but also that of between the fathers sharing their views and opinions on various topics.
The only parts which distracted me while reading this book were the overly done seemingly repetitive parts and the illustrations which seem to be be overdone at some area.
I enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you #NetGalley for the book #TheOutstandingLifeofanAwkwardTheatreKid

[Caroline Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book (and the first one) is amazing! Such an easy read, wonderfully made, the characters are also very well made, and I recommend this book to anyone!

[Marie Tankersley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was really cute! And as someone who has acted in a Shakespeare play before, it was pretty relatable. I loved the family dynamic as well. This was a pretty fluffy light read, as one would expect, but it had some really good messages and many of the characters went through fulfilling arcs. I think this book was much improved from the first, and loads of fun.

[Mariam Putt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good! I liked it better than the first, and laughed just as much! I really hope Ted Kluck writes a third...

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again such a fun read! Love the illustrations too!

[Bella Putt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars

What a great story! I liked it a lot better than the first. 😊

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flex has a reputation as a middle school jock, but her is willing to do anything to get the attention of KK, the girl of his dreams who happens to really like theater. After a disastrous audition he lands a role in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, but KK seems to be paying attention to everyone but him.


But will his fear of failure become Flex's downfall?



I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, as I have read nonfiction books by Ted Kluck that are decidedly very different from this one here. Fast paced with a conversationally toned narrative, from the perspective a young teen, Flex. The story is also supplemented by comic style illustrations that help to tell the story and fit the style of the book.



At first I was skeptical of this book, and I wasn't too keen on him referring to how "hot" this girl was, but by the end I was won over. The storytelling is engaging, and fun, with relatable humor. The target audience is Middle School age tweens and teens.



A fun filled, relatable read, casual, engaging and highly enjoyable. I loved how Flex is honest and vulnerable, he learns a lot about trusting God, making friends, and sharing his faith.



I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Andie Dole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was delightful. Fits into the fine category of kid's book but still just as good for adults. Flex's family is flawed; there are undercurrents of parental pressures and failings, and Flex is incredibly relatable in his disappearing into distraction methods (video games and the like) when trying to escape the things he dreads. But Flex's family loves the Lord, and the book is riddled with repentance and forgiveness. It's Christian without being saccharine. Where some books lay the Gospel as thick and glompy as cheap chunky peanut butter, it was presented in such a way that actually made sense. Sometimes desperation to share the Gospel can make a good story crap, but this made a lot of sense, and the transitions were smooth.
There's also the whole trying to see where someone else is coming from and admitting when we're scared and asking for help and by George, it was just really good. Definitely recommend for hesitant readers; definitely recommend for grown-ups. 5 stars.

[Andrew Wolgemuth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun. Kluck tells a funny story with really thoughtful insight woven into it. I read it outloud to our 12-, 10-, and 7-year-olds, and they would have listened to it in one sitting.

(full disclosure: the literary agency I work for represents Ted on this book)

[Jonathan Mandell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The theater kids are putting on a school show, and, like the TV series Glee, the lead actor is a recently recruited football player. But unlike Glee, or Smash, or Rise, the show they’re doing is not a musical, but William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale”….in junior high school. And there is something else that’s different: There is not a single Jew or gay kid in the book..... it becomes hard to figure out who this book is supposed to be for. It’s explicitly geared for readers aged eight to 12, but I’m guessing people of that age interested in theater might be insulted by this book — or perhaps just feel excluded by it....
My full review: https://newyorktheater.me/2020/03/14/...

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flex is a football player. But he's close to a girl in theatre. So he auditions for Shakespeare. The story that unfolds tells of Flex's struggles to show passion in his performance, to learn his lines and to communicate with KK. I liked the fact that the main character was a Christian and it wasn't really a big deal. It was just part of who he was.
This would be a great introduction to chapter books and comic books for young readers. The combination of comic illustrations and short paragraphs was great. I did feel that sometimes there were gaps linking parts together. As an adult it was easy to fill in the gaps where the scene changed in the story, but children might find this more tricky.
This is the second book about Flex and I'd certainly be interested to read the first.

[Leah Compston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both this book and the previous require a bit of suspension of disbelief - as Flex is very insightful into church life and Christian theology, and also as Flex got the lead role in a play after fainting during his audition. (I can only imagine they didn't have enough willing participants?)
However, the characters break beyond the stereotypes, both Flex from his jock stereotype and Actor Boy from his theatre stereotype. It was refreshing to see the boys and their fathers become humbly honest with each other, something this world needs more of.

[Rachel Schmoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my kids. I heard about it because I listen to Happy Rant podcast. My kids liked it. I read it too and it made me chuckle. I enjoyed it the same way I enjoy watching The Wonder Years. And, bonus, now I’m curious about The Winter’s Tale by Shakespeare since knowing the plot would have enhanced my understanding of this middle-grade novel. Well played, Ted Kluck. Way to pack so much into a simple story.

[Meredith Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book for my bff’s 10 yr old (who loves graphic novels) & wanted to check it out. I thought it was hilarious & precious! I don’t know if kids will find it as funny as adults, but I do think it could be reassuring to preteens & teens. Kluck spoofs & satirizes the kids you would find in school & works in some insights about Christ as our only lasting joy, in ways that are really friendly & relevant.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

This dips into the "Wimpy Kid" style presentation, but the cartoon sections of each page are not jump-cuts to yucks as in some books in this format, but straight continuation of the prose. It's a quick read, with a low word count, and a heck of a lot of problems. I couldn't believe for one moment the football kid at school, who narrates, would actually try for the school Shakespeare production, just for the girl he wants to be with, and I certainly couldn't be convinced that he not only fainted from anxiety in the audition but still got the lead part. Other issues range from how it suddenly breaks away to a scene our narrator could have no possible idea about, as it happens far across town and without his knowledge, to how the Christian aspects of the characters and purpose of the whole thing just suddenly land on the page with no warning. They, I think, show the true reason this has been written – not so much to show a fun drama of a school kid being a fish out of water for the sake of tweenage love, but to thrust the morals of it all down our throats. As a result confessions by the school lockers about different types of father really seem unrealistic, and in the end the whole thing is too brief to allow the plot's connection to that from the other Good Book (as written by "Bill" Shakespeare) to really come across.

[Elissa]

DNF at about 50%. I was going to bluster through the Christian stuff (half was ok, half felt weird), but u just couldn’t do it because of what felt like problematic stereotyping. Jocks, hipsters, so much judgment while also spreading a message of love? I don’t think I’d recommend this.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read aloud.