Firstly thank you to Disney and netgalley for the ARC of this crazy book!

Cliff is big, he’s got issues, life has been tough since his brother’s suicide. When jock and all round popular kid Aaron gets a brain injury and has a revelation about turning the school around, he calls on Cliff, aka Neanderthal, to be his right hand man. Together they mess up repeatedly, but somehow it works and things do change. The cast of high school kids and adults are messed up, lovely, mean, scary, sweary and very colourful, and somehow it all works. Language alert though, there’s lots of cussing.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton is an interesting story about 16 year old Cliff Hubbard aka Neanderthal, as a mean nod to his huge size, and how he comes to terms about his brother Shane’s death, how he starts to live life and not just survive. The popular quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman comes to him after being in a coma for three days after a boating accident gone wrong, and claims he has a list of things that he needs to do from God to get Happy Valley High School to be a better place or at least stuck less and Cliff is a part of it. At first, Cliff resists the idea but as he opens his mind to the possibility of the impossible, things start to change for the better. The list seemed impossible getting the drug dealers to have a better life, get a mean English teacher back to how he loved to teach, get the vicious bully to change his ways, to get a mysterious computer hacker to stop hacking and to get the Jesus Teens group to realize they are a bunch of hypocrites but it’s not. This story is not just about Cliff coming to terms about his brother’s death, but how as human beings, regardless of what we believe, we need to treat each other with respect and dignity of being fellow human beings. There are LGBT themes in the novel that might make people uncomfortable if you’re not into that sort of thing but it’s a great novel that should be on every library bookshelf because it’s about how we are all on a journey of life and we need to stand together instead of apart.

Really wanted to read this, but for some reason I could not get it to format so I could read it. I'll be adding it to me "to check out list' at my library. This sounds like a great book!
Rating added only because Netgalley requires it.

A dark tale of love, acceptance and fighting through those awkward high school years. The realistic way the characters interacted with each other made for a page-turning, thoughtful read. It will leave you questioning your own faith and humanity.

I received an advanced readers copy in return for an honest review.

3.5/5

I wasn't so sure about this book when I started it; I couldn't connect to the characters, there was a lot of swearing, and I didn't really see the point. But I kept reading and I am very glad that I did. This book ended up having a lot of heart, a lot of growth in almost all of the characters, and I feels there will be a lot of people who need to hear a story like that one. I love the friendships that developed in this story and the journey they take to complete Aaron's message from God.

Though slow going at the beginning I really enjoyed this story

This book will not only make you feel great on the inside, it will also open a door to show you how teenagers sometimes have to take on adult problems to help the adults in their own lives. Neanderthal is actually a 16-year old boy who is very large for his age. He is 6'6" and 250 lbs. with enough emotional baggage to weigh him and everyone around him down. His journey into shedding that baggage is difficult, fraught with mistakes and misunderstandings, and takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster ride along with the other characters in the book.

I believe this story will relate with too many teenagers who have to tackle adult issues while still being children themselves. It may give them the feeling of having someone out there who understands what it is like to have emotionally-stunted parents, abuse in several forms, figuring out who they are in a world that seems to want to take them down, all while trying to survive high school.

This story shows how friendships can help you tackle the toughest situations and how circumstances can turn on a dime. It also highlights how not everything is as it seems, and that can be a good thing.

The "Door" that Neanderthal opens is to possibilities he never thought possible; however, they were always there, he just had to acknowledge them. He is basically dragged into fighting injustices that are happening in his town, and in return, he creates friendships and love where he never thought it existed.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe should be read by every teen who thinks that their world has already been defined for them and they cannot escape. The reality is actually quite different.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton is so much more than another teen coming-of-age story. It is sweet and dark and funny and sad and everything in between. The Neanderthal in the title is Cliff Hubbard. Yes, his nickname at Happy Valley High School is the name of the race of archaic humans who became extinct over 40,000 years ago (Yeah, I did some research). Why, you might ask, is that his nickname? Cliff is 6'6" and 250 lbs. He tends to stand out whether he likes it or not. Cliff is a loner. He doesn't really have any friends and he spends most of his time getting into fights with the most popular boy in school, Aaron Zimmerman or hanging out at an abandon building his brother, Shane and him deemed the Monolith. Cliff's life is by no means easy, but with the help of some unlikely friends and a mission from (maybe?) God, his life is about to get a lot more exciting and possibly a whole lot better as well.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has no one at school and life in his trailer park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide.

There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who can help: Neanderthal.

To his own surprise, Cliff says he's in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS--Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

Cliff Hubbard starts off the book in a sad state. He is living with his parents. His father is physically abusive and his mother seems to turn a blind eye to the abuse. Cliff's older brother and best friend, Shane recently died by suicide and Cliff doesn't know why Shane would think of leaving him alone. Cliff also starts off the book getting into a fist fight with Aaron Zimmerman, the most popular boy in school and he ends up suspended from school for a couple days. A few days after he gets back to school is when everything starts to change.

Cliff is met at his locker by no other than Happy Valley High's resident douchebag (or at least in Cliff's opinion) and recent target for his fist, Aaron Zimmerman. To say Cliff is not enthused to see him is an understatement, but something is different about Aaron. Aaron was out of school a few days because he got into a car accident that almost killed him. Miraculously, he made a full recovery. He may not be able to play football again, but that is not that only change: Aaron believes he was given a message from God and not just any message: a list of things to do. And guess who God said he had to accomplish this list with? That's right! Our main man, Cliff!

Here's the list:
Put an end to Niko's bullying
Call the JT's to repentance
Remind Mr. Spinelli why he chose to teach
Show Frankie's gang a better way
Find and stop HAL

Let's break down the list a little bit:

1. Niko is the bully of all bullies at Happy Valley High. He steals things from kids just for the hell of it. Cliff and him get into a HUGE fight at one point in the book. Like if you saw the first episode Negan was in on The Walking Dead, it almost gets to that kind of violence.

2. The JT's are Happy Valley's resident Jesus/God club. Think Amanda Bynes in Easy A or Mandy Moore in Saved! They are evil in the name of the Lord and they do terrible things to make sure the GSA (the Gay-Straight Alliance) is not allowed to meet in the school. Some bad folks.

3. Mr. Spinelli is a mean, crabby English teacher at Happy Valley. He ends up quitting due to Cliff and Aaron's shenanigans but the boys are determined to cross every item off their list so they go and visite him one day. Let's just say there is some yard work involved and it is all very sweet. We soon find out Mr. Spinelli is more than what he first appeared to be.

4. Frankie is Happy Valley's drug dealer. He hangs around outside the school with his two friends and his sister, Tegan. Aaron and Cliff want to show Frankie and his friends that they don't have to sell drugs, that there is "a better way" to live.

5. Finally, Cliff and Aaron must find out who the school's hacker, HAL is and stop them from spreading the secrets of everyone in the school. Easy, right?

Aaron and Cliff end up forming an unlikely, but wonderful friendship while they try to check each thing off their list. They are definitely some hiccups along the way but they persevere.

No matter what happens in the book or where Cliff and Aaron go to check things off the list, Shane is always lurking in the background somewhere. Either from a memory Cliff has of him, Cliff thinking about why Shane died by suicide, or Cliff wondering what Shane would be thinking about Cliff's actions in certain moments. Even when Cliff is being beaten up by his father, he is always aware that Shane would be getting punched too if he were there. He is another character in the book despite not having a line of dialogue. It was one of my favorite parts of the story. The reader can tell how close the brothers were without Shane being there or the story relying too heavily on flashbacks. 

Now, for the lighter side of this story. Tegan Robertson is Frankie's little sister. As Cliff describes her, she "dresses like a rapper and is built like she could kick Lara Croft's ass." And she has a huge crush on Cliff. Although, it's not like she hides that fact. Anytime she catches him walking to school, she catcalls the hell out of him. It's funny and sweet and considering the way Cliff can sometimes beat himself up, works well to put a smile on his face. I don't approve of catcalling in general, but this...well, this is very cute. Tegan is my favorite character in the story (besides Cliff.) She isn't put into the story just to be Cliff's love interest. She has her own backstory and issues and we get to see all of it. As the story goes on, Cliff and Tegan become closer, learn more about each other's lives, and are just too goddamn cute together.

I loved Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton. I felt like it was written for me. Norton's writing style and voice speak to me in ways I can't even begin to explain. Outcasts. Swearing. Girls that don't fit stereotypes. The way Cliff's home life progresses (NO SPOILERS). I cried. I laughed. I loved this book. And I didn't even discuss any of the wonderful supporting characters. Out of 5 stars, I am giving this wonderful story 4.5 stars. 

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe comes out June 5, 2018.

Thank you, NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion Book Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe is just as unconventional as the name.

The book follows all around self-proclaimed loser Cliff Hubbard through a montage of terrible experiences to set up the tragic backstory and get the reader ready for the revelation.

Aaron Zimmerman has seen God in a near death experience and has transformed from all out ***hole into wanting to fix Happy Valley High School with THE LIST.

The plot is interesting but with so much drug use, sex, and the F-word proclaimed multiple times on every page, this possible feel-good story gets lost in the weeds.

The spoiler at the end can be seen a long way coming.

However, there are just so many funny, stupid and corny lines in the book that you just have to finish.

All your base are belong to us!

After mining through some cringeworthy dialogue and diabolically and intentionally overwrought descriptor type sentences with fluky words and run-on behavior-esque kitsch (such as this example), I settled into a diamond in the rough. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review in return. I enjoyed this as much or more than any John Green book I've ever read, and I've read almost all of them.

Trailer park Cliff Hubbard is separated only by death from being a zombie, going through the motions of life listless and known only as Neanderthal, the giant kid that everybody picks on. Doesn't do squat about it. Doesn't do squat in class. A walking mope, victim of a less than stellar life, haunted by his brother's suicide. Aaron Zimmerman is the star stereotype QB, rich and good-looking, picks on the less fortunate type of a-hole that is featured in many a teen movie. And then Aaron has an accident and claims to see God who has an agenda for him. Aaron feels Cliff is supposed to complete the "list" to make life have meaning. What transpires is not without its clichés, but for a YA, the depth and authentic charm with which Preston Norton gives attention to in his characters is particularly moving. It's especially triumphant in that it juxtaposes so many dark topics such as suicide, severe bullying, homophobia, drug abuse, religious zealotry and child abuse against uplifting cues like teens working to overcome parents who've abandoned them, inviting others they don't understand to the social table, seeing adults through different lenses, and accepting people ultimately for who they are. Honestly, the meaning of life isn't going to be solved by a YA book but for a philosophy on or about humanity, one doesn't necessarily need to dig deep into the volumes of Aristotle quotes every time. Be kind and have a little compassion. Who's listening?

Post link: https://thepagewalker.blogspot.com/2018/01/neanderthal-opens-door-to-universe-by.html
Post date: 1/31/18, 5:36 PM, Central Standard Time


NEANDERTHAL OPENS THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSE covers plenty of components prevailing high school dramas nowadays. It will pull you in different directions. But high school is not high school without its dramas. And I love how Preston Norton held it all together and accomplished a profound deliberation. He drew all the right punches and they all connected. There are plenty of raw emotions, and I truly believe many YA readers will benefit from reading this, whether you believe in God, or not.

Cliff is such a remarkable character. Neanderthal. Everything about him is huge, including his compassionate heart and quick-witted brain. There is balance in him (Luke Skywalker would be so proud) not many people notice. But there is also pain and guilt in him. Many times I wanted to hug this giant and tell him that his heart is in the right place.

This book is amazingly moving and funny. I may have snuffled and snickered in some places, both at the same time. I spent highlighting several passages; I cannot get enough of Norton’s wit. He assembled an array of curious characters and addressed vital issues, BIAS foremost among them. A big issue comprised of many things, making life unbearable for most people, especially for our youth.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For the sensitive folks, be advised that there is plenty of swearing. But also know that life isn’t real without them.

Labels, the bane of high school existence. Cliff knows, because he is called Neanderthal, for his size, his demeanor and because he isn’t that popular jock, he is just a kid trying to get by, trying to overcome the sadness of his brother’s suicide. It was easy for him to hate Aaron Zimmerman, handsome, athletic, rich and popular, as well as brutally unkind to Cliff, that is until Aaron has a near-death experience where he saw God and God had a mission for him. That mission would involve Cliff and the start of an unlikely friendship that would change both of their worlds.

It started with a list and became a quest to make things better in high school, but it became more, it took on a life of its own and would begin a healing process in the lives of so many that suffered in silence. Through their often humorous journey, Cliff would begin to heal, grow and find that life is what you make it, one step at a time and each step makes one's heart just a little lighter, even when life deals some crushing blows, one can survive and learn.

Preston Norton has nailed a winner with NEANDERTHAL OPENS THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSE! Not only is it filled with endearing characters, it is filled with heart, heartache and the joy of learning to feel good again! Laugh with the characters, cry with them and witness what happens when one learns to look outside of their private sphere and embrace the world, flaws and all! These teens are truly alive! Their story is a little over the top, but it fits perfectly into that awkward stage of life. Mr. Norton has created a tale about a slice of two boys’ lives and how they learned to look beyond the believable and create their own version of community, as they watched it struggle to grow and thrive.

Pure entertainment, pure reading joy!

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Disney-Hyperion. This is my honest review.

Publisher: Disney Hyperion (June 5, 2018)
Publication Date: June 5, 2018
Genre: YA
Print Length: 416 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

This is a nice fun YA story that takes place on a high school environment. It’s actually pretty entertainment and a good reading for everyone that have been though or is going through (or will be going through) the four years of high school. After reading it, I don’t think the title does justice with the book contents. I feel that something mentioning the List would be more eye catching. Also, in the first chapters, I didn’t like the main character, but as the story proceeded I ended up starting to like Neanderthal a little bit more chapter after chapter. Overall, it was a nice story on how to survive the high school years, especially after losing someone close to you and when you are considered “weird” because of some of your body features.

Thank you so much for a ARC of this book. I truly enjoyed it!

“There are three rules to high school irrevocably inscribed within the interstellar fabric of the universe. Rule number one: it’s all bullshit. Now before you go thinking I’m some angsty little teenage shit, you should know that I’m not little. In fact, I’m a behemoth. Sixteen years old and somehow miraculously shattering the 250-pound barrier. Holy crap, you say. Get the hell out of town, you say. You think that’s nuts? Let me rephrase it for you: I’m a quarter of a thousand pounds.”



Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and a happy New Year! I have to say I have been wanting to write this review since the day I finished this book, because I need everyone to read it. Is it weird to know your favorite book of 2018 only 6 days into the new year?

Neanderthal is a Young Adult book written by Preston Norton, published by Hyperion. It is available May 22nd, 2018 and I am not joking when I say this: don’t walk, RUN to your local bookstore (or even Amazon if you’re into that) and grab this book!

Let me start out by saying that high school settings aren’t my favorite. But did that keep my from loving this book? Absolutely not! Clifford Hubbard may be my most favorite main character ever. Mostly because I love self deprecating humor, and also because he’s just so dang funny.

“That was me, Clifford Hubbard- the Grand Canyon-assed, Twinkie-and-small-children-eating, jetliner-breather. Known more commonly by the Happy Valley High School population as Neanderthal.”

This books centers around Clifford simply trying to get through high school while simultaneously rebelling against everything following the suicide of his older brother, and best friend. There’s fights at school, fights at home. Nothing seems worth while in Clifford’s life, but one day the student he hates more than anyone comes to him with a task he claims is sent by God. A task that involves making the high school setting Clifford has hated for so long, that Aaron Zimmerman has been benefiting from, better. Is it a message from God or just another joke on poor, dumb, Neanderthal?

“This might have been a big deal if I gave a shit about anything. But I didn’t. Not one single shit. If it was possible for me to give negative shits, I”d distribute those like a six-year-old flower girl at a wedding. Negative shits! Negative shits for everyone!”



I don’t have to say this again, but I’m going to: I LOVED THIS BOOK. I enjoyed all the characters. I thought they were well thought out. I went into this book thinking it was going to be a fluffy young adult book about high school and came out with so much more than that.

I loved how deep this book got. How much representation there was without it being forced. We have the hacker, the fat kid, the hard chick, the nerds, the jocks, the bully. All the major players in what ended up being the most moving book I’ve read in a long while.

“Some of us are barely swimming, some of us are drowning, and there are some of us still who are being tossed in waves and dashed upon the rocks. And often we feel that we won’t survive. Maybe that ocean is school, and we’re struggling to get descent grades, or to fit in, or maybe we’re just trying to survive the hurtful words and actions of people who don’t understand their out cruelty.”

If you guys are interested in finding any more information on this title you can visit Preston’s goodreads here (Goodreads )Also here is a direct link if you’d like to purchase the book when it comes out as well!( Amazon)

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this ARC for review.

While overall, the story arc was interesting, Cliff's narration is what kept me from giving this book a better rating. He was very pretentious. I understand that the author was trying to prove that, despite his "Neanderthal" size and looks, Cliff is actually intelligent, but this was seriously overkill. The narrative switches between casual slang and super formal SAT vocabulary that completely kills any humor. I found myself rolling my eyes over and over. Nobody actually speaks like this, especially not teenagers, and large words and a thesaurus-like vocabulary don't equal characterization.
Cliff and Aaron had great chemistry and I really enjoyed their interactions. The same could not be said about Cliff and his love interest. It felt forced, like the romance was intserted after the fact to add more dimension to Cliffs character (he had very little development despite being the main character).
All in all the story was readable but not relatable.

Clifford "Neanderthal' Hubbard is epic. At six and a half feet tall, 300 pounds, he'd be a sure bet for the football team, but he's more interested in science fiction movies and games. His brother Shane got him to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, and an abandonded seven-story office building becomes their own Monolith, a private hangout as well as a metaphor. For Happy Valley High School, and for life itself.

We know early on that something happened to Shane. We just don't know what. Gradually, Preston Norton doles it out. His pacing and timing, his riveting narrative voice, kept me turning pages nonstop to the end.

I won't repeat a synopsis here, but it's great fun reading about Aaron's near death experience and his "List" of ways to make Happy Valley better, a list delivered to him by God in the guise of Morgan Freeman in an out-of-body experience. Plenty of conflict, tension, misunderstandings, injustices, bullyings, and fights occur. Who would believe a bully like Nico could be softened, or that Frankie the drug dealer would change his ways, or the mean teacher, or the mysterious hacker known as Hal? The momentum of this story builds, and for every setback, there is progress. And a mystery to solve, and revelations to face.

On the one hand, I shake my head at all the insights these teenagers have. In the real world, how many sixteen-year-old boys could be as wise, insightful, and articulate as Neanderthal? It seems obvious a college graduate is writing this, trying to sound like a high school misfit, but unable to suppress his erudition and brilliance. On the other hand, this author is worthy of WIRED magazine for the endless snark, wit, and humor.

He'd also fit in with cracked.com and other sites for the crude and profance, which, hey, sells well these days. I'm a grandma now, not just a mother of three, and I've only just started watching the TV series "Friends" with our 22-yr-old, and I can see why my husband and I banned that show during the offsprings' the teen years. For all the good it did. Our culture is saturated with messages that any amount of indiscriminate copulating with whoever is a good thing, even if you're sixteen or younger. I'm not the target audience of this book, so I won't penalize the rating for all the testosterone-laden comments on boobs and other body parts. Five stars for the message of hope! And for a pleasant diversion from real-world matters weighing on my mind.

This is great escapist fiction with a strong message of hope and redemption, second chances, and insights into our humanity.

Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has no one at school and life in his trailer park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide.

There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who can help: Neanderthal.

To his own surprise, Cliff says he's in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS--Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

Upon reading the above synopsis, I wanted to know more of what Preston Norton had in store for Cliff. I had high hopes for this book, but what I got was more than I could have ever expected.

I love how easy it was to connect with the characters of this novel. Norton used his voice to create believable, yet flawed characters that you can't help but want to be around. I was impressed with how Norton built up the story and carefully revealed a satisfying ending. I felt myself completely immersed into the story.

I have two things that kept this book from reaching a five star rating. The first is the number of pop culture references. Pop culture references cause a book to eventually feel dated. I hope that this does not happen with this book, but it drives me crazy. I lost count of how many references were made. The second is the number of "AAAaaaaaAAHHHHHHhhhhhhHHHHHhhhHHHHHH"s were written. I'm sure there were other ways of getting this point across without having to write it like the example above.

Overall, I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

Disclaimer, I'm not a fan of YA. I read it to screen books for the library (I'm a TK-8 children's librarian). General review : entertaining, not great. A teenager or fan of YA would love it. For me, it had a lot of what I dislike in YA: a predictable plot any astute reader would surmise within the first few chapters, teenagers with more self-awareness than Oprah after a weekend in Ojai with Brene Brown, ugly people who don't realize they're gorgeous, 16 year olds with incredible vocabularies, and cardboard cutout parents spaced sporadically as plot fillers. I'm guessing most of my friends, especially the John Green fans (gag), will enjoy this one.

Weighing in at 250lbs and hitting 6'6" in height, Cliff Hubbard can't help but stick out at school. To make matters a whole lot worse, he lost the best thing in his life when his beloved older brother Shane committed suicide. Nicknamed Neanderthal by his classmates, his nemesis is Aaron Zimmerman, star quarterback of the school football team, who is everything he isn't - popular, good looking, loved by all.
Everything changes when Aaron is involved in a serious car accident, leaving him in a coma. When he defies his gloomy prognosis and wakes up, he seems to have been unaffected by his trauma. Until he announces to Cliff that he's now on a mission from God to right some wrongs, and that he has to get Cliff to help him.
Cliff decides to form an unexpected alliance with Aaron as they set about restoring balance in the world by working through the list - dealing with bullies, poisonous religious zealots, teachers who have lost their vocation, drug dealers and hackers, in a story that will have you reaching for the tissues to mop up either tears of mirth or heartbreak at multiple points along the way.
Along the way, Cliff also restores balance in his own personal world - learning a lot more about his brother and the truth about his seemingly inexplicable decision to take his own life, as well as managing to fall in love and deal with his abusive father once and for all.
This is such an enjoyable book. The microcosm of Happy Valley High School provides a rich tapestry of life in all its glories and tragedies, and an equally rich smorgasbord of amazing characters. Norton creates vivid personalities that come to life before your eyes, and who will have you cheering them on to the extremely satisfying grand finale. Hugely recommended!

I was given the opportunity to read this ARC and in all honesty I am not sure why I requested it. I read the description but I was not at all sure what to expect. Normally I am not a YA reader, unless I get recommendations by my fellow readers or I read a specific author. The reason being is that I feel every YA book is pretty much a repeat of the previous. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good story about the struggles of being a teenager and surviving the High School years. I am however a bit put out by the stereotypical aspects. The partying and illegal under-age drinking and irresponsible parents who dare leave a teenage son alone at home and in a way allowing them to do those ‘typical’ things teenagers do. This is what I feared I’d get in Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe. I was wrong!

The story follows Cliff, a sixteen-year-old high school student at Happy Valley High School in Happy Valley Montana. Cliff is a loner and at 6’6” and 250lbs he can’t really try to blend with the crowd. He lives in a trailer park with his mother and drunken father. He is struggling with the death of his brother, Shane, who committed suicide. Cliff is trying to understand why his brother did what he did and to make sense of it all.

Aaron Zimmerman is the High School jock. The quarterback of the football team and as cool, handsome and popular as you can imagine. As Cliff sits alone at lunch time he is surprised when Aaron sits with him and tells him that he needs Cliff’s help with a list. Aaron claims he has a list given to him by God. This list was made as a guide to help make Happy Valley High a better place.

Cliff is skeptical at first but then makes this his sole purpose. Together they set out to change the world! Or at least to change HVHS. Maybe it will help Cliff figure out why his brother did what he did.

If you take The Breakfast Club, add a bit of Lucas to it and sprinkle it with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you get Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe! Preston Norton has created a wonderful story of friendship, grief, family and the power we poses to change the world. He tackles the difficult subject of suicide in a subtle way within the story. The characters are quirky and funny. The dialogue and narrative an absolute hit! Each character is memorable and relatable. Cliff is a gentle giant and you will fall in love with him from the very beginning. The supporting characters help develop the story and they grow as the story develops.

I do think the book is a bit long for a YA but the way it is written makes up for it! I was laughing out loud and crying and cheering! Norton’s voice is amazing! It was quite a refreshing story.