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The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga

Summary

A fifteen-year-old "geek" who keeps a list of the high school jocks and others who torment him, and pours his energy into creating a great graphic novel, encounters Kyra, Goth Girl, who helps change his outlook on almost everything, including himself.

Booktalk

To say Fanboy doesn’t fit in at school is an understatement. He gets humiliated on the bus and beat up everyday during gym. And if that’s not bad enough, he has his pregnant mom and the "step-fascist",—a man who seems to live for drinking bad beer and watching sports on television- to deal with at home. He has exactly one friend. Cal. Their common interest: comic books. But the problem is that Cal is a jock, and a popular one at that. So Fanboy has to be careful. Careful of not blowing Cal’s cover.

He does however have a few things to keep him going until he can get out of his small soul-sucking town. One being the writing of Schematica which may turn out to be the greatest comic of all time. He also has his list. Once on the list, you’re never off. The latest addition? The guy who cut him off on the bus just when he was going to get to walk behind the hottest girl in school. But the one thing he doesn’t count on is meeting Goth Girl. What exactly does she want from him? And is he really ready for his life to change?

311 pages, 9th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. What did you think of Goth Girl? How would you describe her personality?
  2. Why do you think Goth Girl contacted Fanboy after witnessing his beating in gym?
  3. Fanboy is passionate about comics. What things are you passionate about in your life?
  4. What do you think of Fanboy’s list? Do you think it’s a healthy way to deal with his anger? Why or why not?
  5. On page 30 Cal talks about how excited he is about collecting comics in their original form. Do you think that’s an important aspect of comic collecting and reading? Why or why not? Can you think of an example of things that are important to you in that way?
  6. On page 96 Fanboy talks about how offensive he finds a bumper sticker that says, "My kid can beat up your honor student." Do you agree with him? What things do you see in advertising, bumpers stickers, or commercials that you feel are offensive?
  7. Why do you think Gothgirl flashes both Fanboy and Bendis?
  8. Fanboy changes his perception of Cal and their friendship as the story unfolds. Do you think he was accurate? What kind of a friend is Cal?
  9. Why do you think that the people questioned Fanboys’s sexuality throughout the book? What does this say about society’s perceptions of what it means to be gay?

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