Arty has a crush on his best friend. Then, on the night that Arty’s about to share his true feelings, a mutual friend attacks Larissa in the most shocking way.Arty and Larissa have the perfect relationship. She’s beautiful and afraid of her own popularity. He sits alone and draws comics. They're both social misfits—him obsessively, her secretly. They go to different schools, but they trade late-night phone calls and between-class meetings in Hebrew School. They never run out of things to say. Then one night, one of their common friends attacks Larissa in the darkest and most unforgivable of ways—the same night that Arty was planning to kiss her. Larissa’s world falls into a tailspin, and at the same time Arty's own life threatens to explode. He wonders if being a guy is just like being a time bomb. His own body—his own head—feels like a traitorous enemy.As Arty and Larissa find themselves betrayed by their own feelings and torn apart by circumstance. What will this mean to their group of friends? Who can he trust? Will Larissa ever be the same—and can Arty ever feel the same about her again?

The perks of being an émigré wallflowerJupiter was born in Russia, but he's getting quite an education in America. He sees everything slightly askew - but in a way that's endearing to (most) of his fellow students. A popular girl takes him under her wing. He falls for her. A bully sets him as a target. But Jupiter disarms him in an unexpected way. His best friend ends up hanging with a posse of science geeks. Jupiter feels left out. With dead-on deadpan humor, Matthue Roth makes everything illuminated about American teen life - like Borat as directed by John Hughes.