Scrawl by Mark Shulman

I know what you think
You think I'm fixable, don't you?
You want to fix the bad guy.
You don't know the half of it.

Tod Munn is in trouble. Most of his teachers think he should be in juvie. Even Tod is unsure why he is in a daily detention writing in a notebook (NOT a journal) for Mrs. Woodrow. That notebook is Scrawl, the new novel by Mark Shulman.

Tod is a good writer and an even better speller but his troublemaking droogs, uninterested family and especially his anger could be his undoing. As the details of Tod’s exploits are revealed, Shulman’s readers find out that all is not as it seems. Tod is a blunt, yet entertaining narrator and Mrs. M is a smart, caring adult.

I was afraid the novel would turn into many stereotypes, but this measured story never wanders from a realistic depiction of a teen dealing with his anger and self troubles. At times while reading, I wished for there to be more to the story, but this is a solid effort.

I would recommend this to fans of Sherman Alexi’s The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian and Happyface by Stephen Emond.