Reality Boy

King, A. S. Reality Boy. 2013. 353p. ISBN 9780316222709. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Gerald is very angry. He has always been angry. The third child, Gerald was an accident, but that didn’t make him angry. What did make him angry was his sister Tasha. Tasha, the eldest child and seven years older, has always hated Gerald. And not in the way siblings sometimes hate each other. In the visceral sense of the word. She hated Gerald, and on several occasions tried to kill him.

Gerald’s mother decided that it would help their situation if she participated in Network Nanny, a reality show about a nanny providing help to struggling families. The show came, and Gerald became the focus of this dysfunctional family. The cameras were rolling when Gerald crapped in his mother’s closet, on the table, on Tasha’s dolls. As a five years old, he became known as the Crapper.

Twelve years later, Tasha still lives in the basement. Gerald’s second sister, also a victim of Tasha, left as soon as she could and now goes to college far away in Scotland. His mother is still in denial with Tasha’s psychopathic tendencies. His father is still disconnected from the family. And Gerald is still angry. He’s in the special ed class at school, though he can learn perfectly well. He is still known as the Crapper at school. But now there’s Register 1 girl, Hannah. Gerald is intrigued by her and attracted to her. He works register 7 at the local arena, and the distance is necessary between the two. For Gerald knows he’s on the borderline to an angry burst that would land him in jail. His therapist tells him to stay away from girls, he can’t handle them right now. But Hannah is still there, and Gerald just can’t push her away. Can she help him discover his true self and reconnect to the world that exists beyond the Crapper?