This novel really blew me away—partly because it wasn’t quite what I expected but also because it manages to walk the line between a science fiction novel and a Raymond Carver short story. Dale Sampson grows up in a small town in Southern Illinois–a brainy loner. However, in sixth grade he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Mack Tucker, popular jock, and becomes just a little bit less of a loner. He and Mack connect, in part, because Mack has an abusive father and Dale […]