Underdog by Marcus Zusak

So this is the first book Mr. Zusak wrote, and I think it's OK.   It's recently been released in the US with the next two books that resolve around the same brothers.

For me it really feels like a short story.  It follows an obvious literary format,  climax, denoument, etc. But overall it's not a super eventful action-packed story.

Cameron is a loser, he tells his story in a self-deprecating way.  He and his brother are bored, poor, and end up getting into trouble without even trying very hard.  He wants to do better, to be better.  He says at the beginning that, "A happening was looming.  It was out there somewhere beyond the regular enclosed life that I had been living."

I like his writing style, it feel efforless and smart, but it's definetly stream of conscious, so if that bugs you this will too.  Several chapters include dreams.  I think they are poetic and that teenagers would love to try to interpret them, but they didn't add a lot to the story for me.

"The pages and words are my world, spread out before your eyes and for your hands to touch."

I'm interested enough to read the next one, but it didn't amaze me.