This is a book geared toward young adults. It deals with bullying, not fitting in, poverty, and abuse, through the development of an unlikely romance. There is plenty of humour to make the negative stuff more palatable, and the characters are likeable, believable, and interesting. However, the story really started to drag towards the end. My family was listening to this audio book on a long car trip, and everyone was really enjoying it for the first two-thirds but wishing for the author to get on with it during the last third. The printed version might not have seemed as dragged out, though, especially for a fast reader.