BOY PROOF
Cecil Castellucci
Candlewick Press
Fiction
ISBN: 0763623334
208 pages

A girl who calls herself Egg, wears a homemade cloak to school everyday, and obsesses over sci-fi movies, is somebody who I wouldn't expect to enjoy spending time with. Yet Egg's original take on the world, combined with the emotional journey she undergoes, makes BOY PROOF a fun and thought-provoking novel.

This is a character-driven book, centering on the first-person narrator. Egg (aka Victoria Jurgen) has trouble relating to people. Her weird trappings serve to shelter her from the difficulties and heartbreak that go along with relationships. Although she gets along well with her father, a mask maker and animatronic specialist, she lives with her mother, a former actress who Egg seems to have no respect for. Egg belongs to the sci-fi club at school, but she remains aloof from the other members and takes care not to call them friends. Her personal life consists of photography, drawing, and dreaming about the stars of her favorite movie, Terminal Earth. She seems to like it that way.

Until Max Carter moves to town. Immediately intrigued by Egg, he offers her friendship and --- possibly --- something more. Egg is attracted. Max shares so many of her interests, and she stumbles across him in the most unlikely places. Unsure how to react, however, she rebuffs him, and her moment to create a friendship seems lost. A series of unrelated events eventually inspires Egg to realize that unless she makes some changes, she's looking at a lonely future.

Funny and creative, Egg is impossible not to like. The first-person narration is very successful here, letting the reader compare how others view Egg --- unfriendly and snobbish --- versus how she really is inside, a mass of worry and doubt. Although most of the book follows Egg's goals and dreams, at least one minor character emerges as a person in her own right, rather than just a depiction of how Egg views her. There are no terrible secrets in Egg's past, and I found the story better for that --- many kids are lonely and alienated just because they are, and Egg speaks well to the ways in which an imaginative teenager can find that her interests make her feel lost rather than bonding with others.

Even those who aren't sci-fi fans should enjoy this book; the sci-fi aspect comes across as a vital part of Egg's personality rather than an author indulging her own interest. Max didn't work as well for me, however. Complete with glamorous past, he seemed too perfect --- more like the friend or boyfriend Egg would have imagined than a real person. I would have liked to have seen a few flaws. And the book's ending wrapped things up a bit too neatly for my taste.

These are minor problems, however. For readers who like books about relationships and people transcending their own limitations as they reach out to others, BOY PROOF is a great read.

   --- Reviewed by Paula Jolin

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