Acting Up
Ted Staunton
Fiction / Teen Fiction
Ages 9–14 • 263 pages • 5 1/4 x 7 1/2"
ISBN 0–88995–441–0 paper • CDN 12.95 • USA 12.95

Sam Foster is the hero of this comic novel. He’s six foot four, and over his high school years has adopted the Slouch - an attempt to draw less attention to himself in crucial situations. Sam’s also got talent - he’s the drummer in a rock band named ADHD, and he’s also a sometime assistant to Hope Springs’ world-famous blowhard novelist, J. Earl Goodenough.

W\hat Sam has to figure out is how to reach a level of maturity that will gain him the trust of his family. And it’s here that Sam faces his greatest challenges. First, dealing with his anarchistic girlfriend Martha who loves breaking all the rules. Second is handling the oppressive Mr. Tegwar, who keeps stacking on the schoolwork and punishing Sam with more and more gruelling community service hours. In addition are all those crazy episodes of youth – taking a few too many drinks before the big school dance, getting a drivers’ license, having a buddy over when the parents leave for the weekend, falling hard for the wrong girl …

By the end, Sam has figured out as much as a 16-year-old can – that the road to love doesn’t always stretch forever, and that adults are not always as mature as they sometimes appear to be – an assurance to Sam during this comic quest to finally grow up.

Since his 1983 debut with Puddleman, one of Canada’s most perennially popular picture books, Ted Staunton has been entertaining readers of all ages with his funny and perceptive stories of childhood and family life. His many other books include the Junior novel Hope Springs, which was shortlisted for both the Ontario Silver Birch and Nova Scotia Hackmatack awards, and its YA sequel, Sounding Off.