Sophomore Undercover »

WHO: Dixie Nguyen (no, not "Nig Goo Yun") a.k.a. Pixie Dick (to the large, cruel, and athletically gifted) a.k.a. the lead (and only) reporter for the school newspaper

WHAT: A chance for Dixie to scoop the biggest drug scandal in the history of high school athletics—provided that he can stay out of juvenile hall, the hospital, and new age therapy long enough to piece the story together

WHEN: Homecoming week

WHERE: Stilton, California

Population: 5,864

Vietnamese Population: Dixie Nguyen

HOW: Using the power of investigative reporting—along with a little help from a cheerleader-turned-goth, a menopausal journalism teacher, and maybe even the hippie school counselor, nicknamed Huggy Bear

WHY: Because the Pulitzer would look pretty sweet on a college application

Publishers Weekly

This irreverent debut follows 14-year-old Dixie Nguyen, the only Vietnamese person in his California small town (he's adopted), a social outcast and wannabe journalist. The lone reporter for his high school paper, Dixie glimpses one of the jocks in the locker room receiving an injection and finally has something newsworthy to write about. Launching his own crazy, convoluted investigation, Dixie uncovers a conspiracy involving drugs made in Canada and imported to the U.S. under cover of a pharmaceutical company, then sold to a mysterious albino student who passes them on to the school's perpetually losing football team. The characterizations match the over-the-top plotting; for example, the school counselor asks to be called Huggy Bear. Though it's hard to keep track of the ridiculous connections Dixie makes, his investigation will be funny and compelling to readers who like Esch's in-your-face humor (Dixie's first adoptive father was "a figurative 'bleeding heart' Berkeley professor, who became a literal bleeding heart Berkeley professor after a car crash two months into the adoption experiment"). Ages 14-up. (Feb.)

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