Matthew Shaw is banned from his school's online counseling forum. Is it a crime his advice posts and anarchy blog are more popular than those on the school website? Though he's being as sincere as possible, Matthew, posting as "Frogman" online, wreaks havoc at Henry Blake High with advice that causes breakups, instigates a cheerleader fistfight, and turns a school assembly into an angry mob. When Matthew's private notebook goes missing, he worries not only about blowing his secret identity but about being suspended and ruining his shot to escape Mom's hoarding house.
Matthew Shaw’s ‘Frogman’ posts on the school’s online counseling forum are a massive part of his life. He loves playing such an influential role, and people seem to like his advice over that of the school counselor. So, when the school ban him, and any Frogman derivative name he comes up with, from the forum, he has to do something.
Teaming up with some unlikely friends, Matthew creates a blog, full of anarchy and publishes posts fighting against the school. He resurrects Frogman, and starts trying to recreate his infamy on his own site. But things don’t run quite as smoothly as he might have hoped. His words still influence people’s decisions and actions, but rather than simply encouraging students to follow their own desires, Matthew causes chaos. Breakups, fights, wide-spread anger throughout the school… it reaches a point where Matthew must decide whether it is still safe for Frogman to exist.
Matthew is a character in a very difficult situation. He lives for his Frogman posts because his life at home is not good. He lives alone with his mother, who is a hoarder and clutters their life with junk. Matthew hates going home to a house he can barely walk through, full of his mother’s mess, but he has no other choice. At least his room is clean. I really disliked Matthew’s mother in this book. Not only does she have no respect for him at all, or allow him many freedoms, she tries to blame things on him that are not his fault. The kitchen may be filthy, but none of the plates are Matthew’s, as he pretty much lives off granola bars due to his lack of money, and to avoid conversation with his mother over food, or if she cornered him while he was in the kitchen.
The school is portrayed as, in my opinion, quite a rough school. There are some people who treat it as if it were posh and believe that everyone must follow all the rules, but a fair amount of the pupils get into fights, and arguments in the classroom are to be expected and tolerated. There is a massive lack of funding for the school, and people fight to keep their clubs running when there is not necessarily the money for everyone. In another school, Matthew’s posts may have had a completely different effect, but in one where there is already tension, and ‘school spirit’ is ridiculous, as there is nothing about their school that the students can really brag about, he just adds to the disgruntlement amongst the student population.
This book felt quite real in the telling, as there are no magic fixes to anything. Matthew is behind on classwork, and he can’t just spend one evening on homework and catch up, it is a long haul of hard work he must commit to. His home life isn’t going to significantly improve after an argument where his mother suddenly sees his point of view and changes her ways. This book isn’t about Matthew going from a bad situation to a good one, but follows him through a small part of his life where he makes some mistakes at school, and has to deal with the consequences. He spends a lot of time worrying about school, as even though he doesn’t put much effort in, he is terrified that he won’t be able to get into college and escape home.
Although the chapters in this book are likely no shorter than any other book I’ve read recently, they felt quite short. This book is an incredibly easy read, and you can fly through the chapters. This did mean it was very easy to fall into the ‘just one more chapter’ scenario, as you can always justify reading another chapter if the chapters do not take long to read. I found myself sneaking in a quick chapter whenever I had the chance, and I read this book in no time at all. I loved reading this book, and looked forward to getting home from work to sit down and get back to reading it. If I had the time, I easily could’ve read this whole book in one sitting. It drew me in, and I didn’t want to put it down. I think this book would make a great teen film, and I’d love to see it on the screen. As an adult I loved reading it, and I know as a teen I would’ve loved it as well. It definitely suits it’s target audience, and was a great read!
Heidi Voss’ debut novel Frogman’s Response has been praised as being “instantly engaging” and her award winning short fiction has been featured in multiple anthologies. When not writing or promoting her work, she enjoys video games and exercise.
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