Alex Gregory is pretty much mad at everybody when this story opens, and he has the smart mouth to let everybody know it. His parents are divorcing (spending his college fund on lawyers), Mom is going out on a 1st date (gross), Dad is shacking up with Alex's third grade teacher (oh so gross), his best friend Laurie is giving him mixed signals about taking their relationship to another level (frustrating). Left alone at home on a Saturday night, Alex decides to show them all how he feels - downing a pint of vodka, he jumps in Mom's car and heads over to Dad's where he hopes to catch him and his lover together and give them a piece of his mind. Bad plan - after the crash he winds up losing his driving priveleges for 2 years and is sentenced to 100 hours of community service at a nursing home where he is to spend the time with an old man who is more than a match for Alex's smart mouth.
Alex's first person narrative is witty and entertaining as he spends the school year grounded, his time taken up trying to cope with his parents, his girlfriend (or is she?), and Solomon Lewis - old crank extraordinaire. I thought the author could have left out the bit about the old man's daughter's identity - life is never that neatly wrapped up. But that is a minor flaw in an otherwise good story - one that made me both laugh and cry.
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