I'm torn about this book. The premise is really interesting, but the story itself attempts to take on too many ideas. Our narrator, Clifford Hubbard – otherwise known as "Neanderthal" because of his height – has a hard life. He is constantly teased at school, his brother is dead, and his dad is an abusive drunk. And yet, despite this, I found myself having a hard time warming up to him. The story starts slow, as it's mostly him telling us about himself. There was no real reason to care about him in the beginning because all I knew was that he was really tall, people thought he was stupid, and he had some anger issues of his own. I had a hard time gripping the fact that there were adults in his life that actually treated him the way they did (some staff members, for example). Those interactions seemed a little unrealistic to me, but I see the point it was trying to make. I also got a little irritated by how often Cliff felt the need to remind us about his size.

However, there were good parts of this book too. I especially liked the writing style, even though there were lines of it that felt a tad too forced. I appreciated the humor, though, and I thought Aaron was a really interesting character and loved how Cliff compared him to a real-life Ferris Bueller.

All in all, I'm conflicted about how to review this. It has potential, but I think it's trying to cover too many topics at the same time and it takes too long to care about the main character.

Cliff Hubbard is a 16 year old boy who is 6'6" and 250lbs. He goes to Happy Valley High School where he is not happy. Cruel kids call him Neanderthal because of his size, his dad uses him for a punching bag, he has no friends, his brother and best friend committed suicide, and he has low self esteem.
When I first started reading this book, my heart broke for this boy.
I liked that the most popular boy in school befriended Cliff, even if it was because of a dream.
I think that this book shows that all people have problems, all people hurt even if they don't show it. I hope this book shows kids to try to get to know someone before they start bullying them.
These students want a LGBT group and it caused problems. I think everyone could get along if everyone would try.
The characters are easy to relate to. The characters are likeable. There are some good world building skills, like the trail court and the Monolith that made for easy visualization. This books touches on some difficult subjects. It's eloquently written. The plot is easy to understand. The story flows freely. I enjoyed reading this.
So...What is the meaning of life?

A funny contemporary story with just enough weird mixed in to make things interesting. I really liked that it took on a few topics like bullying and proximity-friendships with a dose of reality rather than preachiness. There's a lot going on in this book, however, and it seemed to try to take on all of the things, so a few of the side-plots fell flat. Fortunately, Cliff's wit hit me exactly right, so I kept reading and I think most fans of Frank Portman or David Lubar will be on board.

Pitch perfect voice that rings so true that it is what carries this book for me and I know it will for my teen readers. From page Cliff is such a well developed, well voiced character that he literally comes off the page and talks. You want to listen. That, combined with the him teaming up with Aaron to bring about change in the school because of a Godly vision? It's just one of those books my book club members are going to be passing along to their friends. This is a must buy to have on my shelves (although I am pretty sure it will spend more time off than on). Again, I must say...voice. It's headed to a favorite read of 2018 and do in no small part to Cliff.

This book will have a wait list in our library. What a fantastic read. I can't wait to share it

Excellent young adult novel on faith, struggling through life, and learning to accept and love one another.

Oh. My. GAWD!!!!!! Go find this book. Like, yesterday! It is so funny and so touching and so lovely! Cliff Hubbard may be my new favorite fictional character. Or maybe Tegan. Or perhaps Noah. They are all so perfectly imperfect and I want to read more about them if possible! This is a special special book.♥

I wish every teen would read this. Everyone should just read it and revel in the perfection that has been achieved here. It's the ideal YA novel.

Norton, Preston Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, 400 pages. Disney, MAY 2018. $18. Content: NC-17

Neanderthal (formerly known as Cliff) is a hulking, outsider presence in his high school. And since his older brother Shane committed suicide he feels left out in his own life. Then school golden child Aaron Zimmerman gets a concussion (not Cliff’s fault) and the first day he is back at school, he tells Cliff that he had a vision from God and the two of them have a list of five tasks in order to improve life for everyone at Happy Valley High School. WHAT?! The odds seem stacked against the pair - and everything they do seems to have the opposite effect. But in little ways things are looking up (Neanderthal has a girlfriend?! Cool!), so the pair persist. But each success leads to another roadblock. It really will take divine intervention to save any of them from themselves.

As I told my husband, I hated this book so much that I can’t wait to read it again. It terms of swearing, mature content, and violence, it earns that NC-17 rating over and over again. I mean. It uses the ‘f’ word 76 times! But I also spent every page laughing out loud, reading passages to my husband, and wanting to cover the pages with highlighter because I was so impressed by the author’s craft. it is so full of heart and raw emotion and I can think of hundreds of students, by name, who would immediately benefit from reading this. What do I do? I do think that Norton could have written the same big without the major content issues - I think that is why I am so mad at it. You (school librarians) are going to have to decide for yourselves whether to add it to your shelves.

HS - OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

Ever read one of those books where you’re only halfway through, but you already want to tell everyone you know to read it? But you can’t at that exact moment in time because you’ve got tears pouring down your face and you can’t find the Kleenex and everyone will want to know if you’re okay?

This is that book.

It’s honest, irreverent, sweet, funny, incredibly sad, and still hopeful.

Some of the characters curse a mile a minute. Some do drugs. You have homophobia, intolerance, and even parental abuse. Yet, it’s such a beautiful story.

Neanderthal (Cliff) and Aaron are just about the most awesome duo in YA lit. Two guys who you would think would never, ever be friends – who end up changing the lives of those around them. I loved the motley crew of kids who join their cause. And I simply loved how everything ended up.

This is an absolute five star read. I want more.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

I have mixed feelings on this one. I enjoyed the writing style (I think that it will take a specific YA reader to really get into it, though), but the plot was just too much and the characters just too little. There seemed to be so little development with Tegan and Aaron-- they were just sort of there, yet huge parts of the story. And I wish the plot had been just a little more focused. From The List to the brain injury to the love story to the heroin sub plot to Shane's death to HAL-- all of it was just a lot with no substance.

NEANDERTHAL OPENS THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSE by Preston Norton turned out to be a delightful book, and a total surprise from what the beginning of the book lead me to expect. Although parts of the book were dark and "dangerous," the cast of characters came together in such a way as to bring a different kind of hope to the story. The large variety of diverse characters were well developed by the author and were so different from each other, yet drawn together by circumstance.As a high school teacher, I don't really believe the teens in the story were as realistic as most of the teens I've known, but they weren't so far different as to not be believable...considering the events in the lives of the main characters. I definitely recommend the book and believe most teens will find the story entertaining and worth their time.

I really enjoyed this book especially the farther I got into it. I think the characters were interesting and sympathetic. I would recommend this to students.

I absolutely LOVED this book!

Cliff, aka Neanderthal, is trying to cope with his brother's suicide and his troubled status as a loser at school. Aaron, the star quarterback, is in a freak accident and awakes from a coma with what he believes is a mission from God, and Cliff is a star player in Aaron's plans.

This book is funny, poignant, sad, and enlightening all at once.

Sixteen-year-old Clifford Hubbard, not-so-affectionately nicknamed "Neanderthal" because of his 6' 6", 250 pound physique, gets recruited (reluctantly) by ultra-popular and cool Aaron Zimmerman, who, after waking from a coma after a boating accident, claims to have seen God and received from him a list of 5 things needed to make Happy Valley High School, Montana, "suck" less (God's word). The campaign involves hilarious dialogue, popular culture and outrageous situations.

Here's the premise: Cliff Hubbard is a bit of a social retard. (Okay, that's probably not PC, but it's what kids would say). He's over six foot and, at 250 pounds is, hugely obese. His brother, also his best friend, has recently committed suicide; he lives in a trailer park; his father is an alcoholic; and he is teased constantly.

Basically, life's not very good.

Then, something strange happens. Aaron Zimmerman, massively cool jock who is one of Cliff's key tormentors - perhaps even the originator of his nickname 'Neanderthal' - has a boating accident. Everyone assumes he's going to die. Cliff has sort of mixed feelings about this: it's great he's no longer around, but he had been really determined to kick his butt, and if Aaron dies this sort of mucks up that plan.

But Aaron mucks up Cliff's plan further: he comes out of his coma, and talks to Cliff. An actual conversation, using his name, and being polite and everything. What is going on with the universe? Aaron claims he saw God and God gave him a list of things to do make Happy Valley High School suck less. Where does Cliff come in? God said that Aaron had to have Cliff as his side-kick. Cliff does get on board, suspiciously, but it seems like this magic list is doing more damage than good. Is Aaron just suffering from concussion? A logical conclusion, but, as the pair spend more time together, it's not something Cliff wants to believe. Surely, one person, just one, could like him for who he is without having sustained a massive brain injury.

Things sure get complicated...

I wanted to like this book; I really did. It sounded like fun - a quick read, a quick laugh, with the obligatory message that all YA books have these days. But... I just... didn't.

It's sort of hard to pinpoint why. One problem is it has a very slow start and I was getting pretty bored. But that wasn't all of it, obviously. The plot just didn't work. And I think the main problem was the characterisation, specifically, of Cliff. He's six foot and weighs 250 pounds. That's kind of the limit to his character. Okay, so there was a bit more character development than that, but really - for being such a ginormous size - he was a pretty flat character. And there's a relationship with a girl that really really doesn't work. It's unbelievable, out of character, unlikely, cringeworthy... just wrong.

I liked the references to '2001: A Space Odyssey.' That gets some points from me. But when the book tries to be all philosophical, I just got that squirmy feeling when someone's misjudged a situation and everyone feels all awkward. For example, Cliff's older brother said: "Life isn't just existing... It's a door. Don't you want to know what's on the other side? It just... well, it doesn't work. Not in this book.

I suppose I should give Norton some credit for the 'nod' to the LGBTQ community, but that's all it was: a nod. It didn't feel real. It felt like it was inserted into the book because that's what's 'in' in modern YA fiction at the moment, not because it meant anything to the author.

Like I said, I wanted to like it, and I persevered, but it was really disatisfying. By all means, go ahead and read it - I'd love to hear some positive reviews and maybe find out what I've missed, but - for me - this is a no.

Sorry Norton. Maybe I'll like your next book?

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney/Hyperion for the ARC copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are mine. This book will be released on May 22nd 2018.

I really wanted to like this book. I am a fan of contemporary novels and I always enjoy reading books with male narrators. It's usually a refreshing change from female teen narrators. That being said, I found this story mostly unrealistic in its depiction of relationships, both romantic ones and friendships. I didn't believe the love relationship at all - I recognize teen boys don't always pick up on girls' attentions but this was...odd. Overall it felt like some interesting and intense themes were treated almost too lightheartedly. I don't post negative reviews online because I don't think it's necessary to criticize someone's work and their livelihood, so I will keep my opinions here only. I wish I could appreciate this one; perhaps another reader will like it more than I did.

Cliff (Neanderthal) is a BIG guy and often bullied to the point that he loses his temper and fights back. His biggest nemesis is Aaron, the good-looking quarterback. When Aaron has a life-threatening injury & says he saw God and now has a mission to change Happy Valley High School, he enlists Cliff to help.

This is a fun book with serious overtones. The humor, language, and events actually reflect high school quite accurately. Yes, the adults are pretty stereotypical, but this is a YA book so that's expected. There are some interesting twists and turns, but all in all fun, entertaining, and a pretty good message of tolerance and to pay attention to those around you. Recommended for high school readers because there's LOTS of profanity. Probably too much for younger teens.

I didn't have high hopes for this since the start was a bit slow for my taste, but I must say I ended up breathless after I finished this book. It was so... not ordinary, I would say.

The premise of this book seems a lit bit crazy and yeah, in some ways, it definitely is that way. Our MC Cliff is of considerable height and people call him Neandhertal at school . His older brother commited suicide and he tries to deal with that. And then there is The List. Cliff gets together with his most hated enemy, douche Aaron and helps him with what he claims to see when he was in coma. This definitely didn't make sense to me at first but in the end, I was really glad author picked something so crazy. So... if you think this book is only about this, you are mistaken. It's far more complex and deep than this.

I admire author for focusing on a lot of important topics which should be discussed more in media nowdays. We have bullying here, LGBT+, body image, family, slut shaming, suicide, dealing with loss of someone you love, religion... I could go on and on. Narrative is in first person but author also deals with minor characters, which I personally enjoyed.

Eventhough narrative is a little bit slow since beginning, I recommend not to give up. First, our main character is not just some dumb douche. No. Cliff is described very realistic and I personally loved that he was not a hero at all. He was very emotional and even his girl friends were more composed than him. Same goes for other minor characters. They were very diverse and many of them had their problems on their own. Not forget to mention that we do net get only high schoolers, but adults as well. Second, this book is hella funny. I laughed out very often, most of times because of Tegan.

To sum this up, I loved this book very much. It made me realize a lot of things I didn't think of before and feel things differently. This book should be considered as must-read for high schools, I believe because it portraits what high school is about. Plus, there are many beautiful thoughts which will make perfect quotes.

Characters you can visualize and cheer for! A little unrealistic at times, but a fun read for sure. Full review on Goodreads.