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Fly on the Wall
How One Girl Saw Everything
256 pages
A delightfully weird, comic-book-infused exploration of high school awkwardness and the secret lives of teenage boys.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like flipping through the private sketchbook of the quietest, most observant girl in your high school art class. It is a brisk, delightfully absurd dive into the mortifying reality of teenage existence, blending magical realism with sharp, wry commentary on gender dynamics and social hierarchies. The mood is lighthearted but grounded in genuine adolescent angst, capturing that specific, squirmy feeling of wanting to be invisible while desperately wishing to be seen. The prose is conversational and snappy, perfectly mirroring the chaotic, self-deprecating inner monologue of an artsy outsider. It will thoroughly charm readers who appreciate quirky, character-driven stories about finding your voice, embracing your weirdness, and realizing that everyone else is just as confused as you are.
- Mood
- awkwardly relatable
- lighthearted
- slightly absurd
- Tone
- wry
- observant
- quirky
- self-deprecating
- candid
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- teenage alienation · artistic self-discovery · the mystery of teenage boys · navigating high school social hierarchies · embracing the weird
- The writing
- Sharp, conversational, and punctuated by comic-book-style illustrations that capture the protagonist's inner life.
- The arc
- Moves from isolated, self-conscious observation to a bold, messy embrace of one's own voice and physical presence.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love quirky, character-driven YA about artsy outsiders navigating the mortifying ordeal of being known.
Content notes
- body image insecurities
- mild crude humor
- teenage angst
About the book
At the Manhattan School for Art and Music, where everyone is "different" and everyone is "special," Gretchen Yee feels ordinary. She's the kind of girl who sits alone at lunch, drawing pictures of Spider-Man, so she won't have to talk to anyone; who has a crush on Titus but won't do anything about it; who has no one to hang out with when her best (and only real) friend Katya is busy.One day, Gretchen wishes that she could be a fly on the wall in the boys' locker room--just to learn more about guys. What are they really like? What do they really talk about? Are they really cretins most of the time?Fly on the Wall is the story of how that wish comes true.From the Hardcover edition.
Description from Open Library.
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