BotW: Slob

When you pick up Slob by Ellen Potter and you stare at the book's cover with an Oreo cookie substituting as the title's "o," you might think you know what the book means by "slob."

To Ellen Potter's immense credit, you would be wrong.

The story opens with Owen Birnbaum, who declares at the beginning of the book that he is likely fatter and smarter than you are. Being overweight AND smart means Owen doesn't fit in well at school. He's got a friend or two, but most everyone at school makes fun of him. Bullies delight in humiliating him, especially Owen's sadistic gym teacher.

But being a social misfit isn't what troubles Owen the most. Well into the book you will find that even though Owen lives with someone he calls Mom, something happened to his real parents. Something tragic. Owen can't let go and move on from his parents' untimely death and so he works on his own personal invention, a device he calls Nemesis, to better cope.

Like Owen tells you from the start, he's smart. Genius smart. Owen knows all about satellite waves and he plans to build Nemesis so that it can grab some security camera footage of his parents the night they were killed.

Heavy stuff.

The book is also very funny and lighthearted. Owen's sister belongs to GWAB: Girls Who Are Boys and insists everyone start calling her Jeremy. The school's thug reportedly carries a switchblade in his sock. Owen's friend Nima makes tasty momos and talks about Tibetan Buddhism karma.

It's the ending, however, that makes Slob shine. The most beautiful and saddest aspect of the book is how Ellen Potter makes you think slob means one thing, only to turn it around on its head in the book's final pages. Potter artfully combines the themes of her book--loss, grief, forgiveness--and drives them home so poignently. If you don't like crying in public, read the ending in private!