I’m back with the second OBOB book review! Another one of the sixteen books is called Slider, by Pete Hautman. And the first thing I have to say is that this will definitely be one to remember. You can tell how much I absolutely loved this book by the fact that I have already read it something like five times. Yeah. No exaggeration. This is an example of why I enjoy OBOB so much. It lets me read stories that I would have never picked out on my own, and then I end up loving them! Slider would still be unknown to me if I didn’t join OBOB, and for that I am thankful.

David likes to eat. Like, a lot. Like, on a competitive level. No joke! David’s thing is eating… fast. Pepperoni pizza that’s gone in four minutes fast. And when he gets to own a piece of history from his favorite eater, David can’t say no. Even to something as simple as a half hot dog that couldn’t be devoured in time. But things spiral out of control with a small typing error and now… Oh man, because he doesn’t really want to be there when his mom finds out he “borrowed” her credit card and accidentally charged… well,  he’d prefer not to share the exact numbers quite yet. Soon though, a solution presents itself. A pizza eating contest is being held, with a grand prize of five thousand dollars. He has to win. Or else he’ll never be able to pay back his parents. Yet his family isn’t exactly making it easy to have a career in eating. Between his sister and mom, who both think his speed consumption is disgusting, and his younger brother Mal, who his family would call autistic if they believed in labels, David is in a tough position. His parents expect him to be home all the time taking care of Mal, but that doesn’t give him much flexibility. As the date of the pizza contest draws closer, David spends all of his time practicing with his best friends, Hey-Man and Cyn, but things have gotten strange between the three of them, leaving him wondering if their friendship will last. Then, the day of the big contest, a ball is dropped. One of the biggest competitive eaters enters the competition, forcing David to question if he’ll win. Especially since this guy is determined to have some victory, and will do anything to get it.

Pete Hautman is really such a genius. With the unique storyline, and creative adjectives, this book is intriguing and impossible to put down. I’ll give Slider five stars, but if I could, I’d give them a lot more than that!