THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN
by Josh Berk
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
February 9, 2010

Available for order from most places. I recommend Indie Bound!

THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN tells the hilarious story of Will Halpin, an overweight deaf teen who spends his first year at a mainstream high school looking for love, failing Algebra, unraveling the school's social scene, trying to get invited to the greatest party ever … and, oh yeah, solving a murder.

Amazon.com named it one of the "Best Books of 2010 ... So Far" (July 2010)

Parents' Choice awarded the book a silver medal (July 2010)

A Starred Review from Kirkus, December 15, 2009: "This witty tale of mainstreaming, misfits and murder glitters like the 'Future Diamonds' that coal-mine souvenirs promise to someday become."

Booklist called it "A humorous first novel from an author to watch." 

A Starred Review from School Library Journal, January 2010: “A genre-bending breakthrough that teens are going to love.”

VOYA gave it a perfect 10! "Will is a delightful narrator: smart, wry, and insightful. His experiences in the hearing world, as well as his reflections on deaf culture, add another level of interest in this already compulsively readable novel." (VOYA, June 2010)

BookBrowse.com said: "Part coming-of age-story, part mystery, and part social satire, The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin is a quirky, genre-bending story. Berk is especially adept at tackling the rarely talked about social and political issues inside the deaf community. 

And because he weaves these into the more overt social and political issues inside a typical teenage community, we are able to see those more "normalized" issues in a new light. Through Will's astute eyes and mind, Berk blows open teenage stereotypes, high school rules of hierarchy, and the too-often silent identity struggles all teens face." - Tamara Smith, BookBrowse.com

The full text of several reviews can be found on Barnes & Noble.

The story about how I came to write this book can be found on my bio page.

More about the book:
Amazon
Random House
Good Reads