The Gospel According to Larry
By: Janet Tashjian
Pages: 227

Josh Swensen is a seventeen-year-old guy who’s life-time goal is to make a difference in the world and contribute to the human race. He is considered a genius for his age and a loner/ philosopher. Loner because he hangs out with his only friend – Beth, the gal he’s been crushing on for years. And philosopher because in an attempt to fulfill his life-time goal, he created a website called “The Gospel According to Larry”, where he posts sermons on anticonsumerism/ antimaterialism. It soon became a big hit with everyone from around the world and suddenly all of them want to know Larry’s true identity. If Josh is exposed to the media, he will become the very thing he was fighting against (the influence of the media on teens/ adults and whatever that leads to). Will this prodigy find a way out of this mess?...find out for yourself.

Normally, I wouldn’t read books like this (with issues about consumerism and self-belief). But since the topic for book club that month was “identity” and this one was on the list, I decided to try it out. At first, it seemed to me the story plot was fairly predictable (something along the lines of: the guy reveals himself, the world is shocked because it was him but they got over it, the guy becomes all famous, everybody loves him, and he lives happily ever after, yea!). But no, the ending was ssssoooo different, I don’t think anybody would’ve guessed it right. I loved the twists and turns in the final chapters; they were very dramatic for a story with such a calm/ quiet feeling going on. Although it was boring in the beginning, the ending made up for the loss.
Rating: 8/10

s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours: 3 (total – 25 ½ )