I was given an excerpt of this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was instantly drawn to this book as a fan of Salinger. I remember reading Holden's experiences in high school and instantly being changed. Reading and rereading them and getting to know them to the point that i could say i knew his words by heart.

King Dork might be to younger audiences a first approach to Salinger's works and an introduction to more classics.

After finding a copy of The Catcher in the Rye that belonged to his dead father, King Dork navigates sophmore year through mysteries and sexual experiences.

King Dork is a coming-of-age odyssey with a first person narration that hits the reader with a distinct and clear voice. It is instantly familiar and it promises a captivating and compelling reading experience.

I have been wanting to read this for years! SO glad to get the opportunity to review it. This is a wonderful story that really captured what it is like to be a teenager. Very much like Salinger! I enjoyed it!

King Dork is written in a believable and youthful voice. This was only an excerpt, but I found humor and interest in the text. I would be happy to read the book in its entirety.

Absolutely loved KING DORK and so grateful for this chapter sampler. Now, I have a fine new author to read and a TBR pile ready to happily tumble over! 😀 5/5

Pub Date 12 Feb 2008

Thanks to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#KingDork #NetGalley

I appreciate the author's efforts, but "King Dork" failed to hold my attention.

This excerpt is excellent, in a time-travel-back-to-the-awkwardness-of-high-school-way, and I'm definitely going to have to read the rest of this book someday. It is hard to comment, though, since the book as a whole (which I don't have yet) is yet to be read.

This is a preview excerpt of the book "King Dork" by Frank Portman.

The book is a YA story narrated by a young high-school student in a funny. straight-forward way. The sample will give you a feel of the story and the author's style, if you like the initial chapters then you will enjoy this book.

Some of the sections started with an illustration, which I liked because I'm a very visual person. I recommend it if you like YA stories with mystery and unique voices.

I received a copy of this sneak peek from Delacorte Press through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

I spent the entirety of this sneak peek trying to figure out what era this book is set in. I've ultimately decided that it's early 80s, but maybe it's late 70s, honestly it was rather difficult to peg it, but it does not have a timeless feeling, so I really want to know when it was set. I thought the synopsis would tell me (and I once again made the mistake of not reading that thing before starting the sneak peek), but as you can see, it doesn't. And frankly, this is kind of bugging me.

Maybe it's because I spent so much time reading the book trying to figure out when it was set, but I just did not feel any sort of connection with the main character, the King Dork. He really just came across as a jerk who also happens to get picked on by the jocks. I guess maybe I'm supposed to feel sorry for him because he gets picked on, and I probably would if he didn't come across as such a tool. But it's kind of hard to feel sorry for a guy who is basically a self-avowed jerk.

At this point, I don't feel any desire to even try to finish reading this book. If I had a full copy of the book instead of just the sneak peek, I might actually be fine DNF'ing it even, and I basically never DNF books. I am perfectly content to just be done with this book. And maybe it redeems itself in the next few chapters, but it just did not grab my attention and I will not be continuing it.

Interesting excerpt. Not one I'd pick up on my own, but I found it intriguing.