The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior, Carson Phillips. In this story, Phillips blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application. His goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker. According to goodreads.com, Struck By Lightning is, “laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart. It unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school. At a time when bullying torments so many young people today, this unique and important novel sheds light with humor and wit on an issue that deeply resonates with countless teens and readers.”

Take every cliché high school story gone wrong; a broken home, kids who bully, kids who harm themselves, everything. When you put all of it into a book, you get Chris Colfer’s Struck By Lightning. This book is the perfect read for a day when nothing is going right. From the first sentence to the last it keeps you laughing and smiling with sarcastic comments and Carson’s witty comments. It wasn’t a literary milestone at all, not even close. But it is a young adult book that will make any bad day you have seem like a piece of cake compared to Carson’s homecoming disaster. It reminds you why you strive to get the good grades and finish the courses to do what you love, like Carson broke his back to do.

I highly recommend this book, even if it is just for a light reading. At first I had been a little put off that it was written by someone on the show Glee, but that was put to rest when I read the first sentence and laughed at the vulgarity, “Dear Journal, One more year with these sh**heads and I’ll be free.” Whether you’ve grown out of high school or just graduated, it will not be hard to appreciate this book.