Guest review by Janelle Bailey, retired Literature teacher.

This title popped up on Libby recently, as I sought a new audiobook to read while walking (LOVE that I can be reading two books at once that way, one in print and one audio). I had not heard of it, yet I am SO pleased to have been handed it this way. Everyone should read this one.

Leonard Peacock, high school senior, has very clearly been neglected and left to his own devices, left ON his own to take care of himself by two parents too full of themselves and too selfish to address their son’s daily care with the devotion demanded. Honestly, Leonard’s not asking for much–just his parents to, well, “parent.”

Thank goodness he has other caring people in his life, including an elderly neighbor Walt, a social studies teacher Herr Silverman, and his AP English teacher, his counselor, a couple of others. Nobody really has daily duties for supervising Leonard, but each of these adults are attentive to him and notice the changes in his behavior that are alarming.

And Leonard is an interesting young man himself. He’s bright, well read, and conducts interesting humanities experiments, occasionally skipping school to put on an old suit, ride the subway, and follow for a while some sad adult to see yet another life he does not wish to grow up and into himself.

Not all readers will love the initial setup for this story, but that should not deter a single one from reading it in its entirety. Quick is a smart writer, and Leonard’s story is an important one.