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    Carter Finally Gets It: A Novel
    Carter Finally Gets It: A Novel
    Carter Finally Gets It: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Carter Finally Gets It: A Novel

    Written by Brent Crawford

    Narrated by Nick Podehl

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it’s a lazy nickname, but he didn’t have much say in the matter.)

    Here are five things you should know about him:

    1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.

    2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day…unless he gets distracted.

    3. He’s a virgin, mostly because he’s no good at talking to girls (see number 1).

    4. He’s about to start high school.

    5. He’s totally not ready.

    Join Carter for his freshman year, where he’ll search for sex, love, and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he’ll almost kill a trombone player, face off with his greatest nemesis, suffer a lot of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), get caught up in a messy love triangle, meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprise the hell out of everyone, including himself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 7, 2009
    ISBN9781423391845
    Carter Finally Gets It: A Novel
    Author

    Brent Crawford

    Brent Crawford was born in Kansas, moved to L.A. and N.Y.C. to pursue an acting career. He worked in theatre, film, TV and commercials (check it out on IMDB.com). He’s written numerous plays and scripts, as well as, waited tables, bartended, sold hardware and clothing, worked construction and even dumped airplane toilets (where do you think it goes?). He’s now a pro writer, back in Kansas (yeah!). This is his first YA novel.

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    Reviews for Carter Finally Gets It

    4/5

    128 ratings25 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Carter enters high school like most other students: naive about what's ahead and cocky about what he'll accomplish. He succeeds more often than he fails with plenty of embarrassing and hilarious moments along the way. Recommended for older students who like books that make them giggle.
    • 4/5
      "Carter Finally Gets It" is a Young Adult book by Brent Crawford about a 14-year-old boy entering high school. Will Carter stutters when he’s stressed and has ADD, and if those weren’t enough of a problem, he’s clueless. Like most boys that age, sex suddenly becomes the most important thing in his life, but he still must deal with the day-to-day issues of high school. Carter wants to fit in, be popular, and succeed, but hasn’t any idea how to do any of those things. The author doesn’t tell the reader when or where the book is set, but there are some clues - Carter and his friends don’t have cell phones, they watch tapes instead of DVDs, and there is no mention of computers or iPods.Luckily, Carter has an older sister who gives him dating advice - not because she wants him to succeed with the girls, but because she doesn’t want him to embarrass her. One of the things she tells him is to ask the girl questions. Great advice, but half the time Carter can’t think of any questions after the one or two his sister suggested. Crawford seems to have gotten the 14-year-old boy angst down perfectly. There are times where the book is funny, like Carter’s encounters with razors and the painful and bloody results (even girls can relate to this) or when he tries out for the school play, "Guys and Dolls." However, much of it is painful to read - his many missteps with the girls, his desperation to fit in and be popular, his difficulty dealing with the results of his ADD. While many adult readers will find these things funny, others will want to cry because it’s so painful to “watch.”There are three things that might bring the adult reader up short. When Carter gets suspended for three days after taking on a bully, the school fails to notify Carter’s parents of the suspension. He is left to fend for himself for those three days while his are ignorant of his whereabouts. Then there’s the escape from a drunken party with Carter driving for the first time. He drives like a bat out of hell and barely survives the trip. His father is perfectly okay with the fact that Carter has taken out his mailbox, half the fence, and a corner of the house. The teenaged owner of the truck shrugs off the damage done to his vehicle. Really? Come on! Finally, Carter admits he doesn’t study and will probably fail the ninth grade, but is still allowed onto the football and swim teams and allowed to try out for the baseball team.Regardless of the above flaws, this is a good book for adolescent boys - and girls - to read (young readers may not even notice the flaws). The boys will relate to Carter while the girls will finally understand that their parents aren’t making up the warnings about teenaged boys.
    • 5/5
      Raunchy but heartwarming and absolutely hilarious. Somehow Crawford manages to get sympathy for this misogynistic dirtbag of a 14-year old character without it hinging on his ADD. Cracked me up!
    • 3/5
      I haven’t read many books that have a male main character. But I’m so glad I read Carter Finally Gets It. Brent Crawford had me laughing my butt off.

      Will Carter is an ordinary 14 year old boy. He only thinks about girls and the possibilities of sex. He also has many opportunities to grow during this book. He makes choices, some of them obviously bad, but he has to decide if he’s going to keep acting stupid, or learn from them. Most of his decisions involve Abby. He learns that girls can be fragile under the right circumstances, and that he’ll never understand them.

      I love the fact that Brent Crawford didn’t sugarcoat the fact that boys of this age have a hard time controlling their hormones, and that girls boobs and butts take up a lot of their mental space. The events seem like they are nonstop, but really everything takes place over Carter’s freshman year. Abby is probably one of my favorite characters. She’s not a push over, and doesn’t care what people think.

      I’m excited to read the rest of the books in this series, and I hope they are as funny as this first installment.
    • 3/5
      This book really captures horny teenage boys. It's super relatable and doesn't feel as if it was written by an older author, teens will definitely get a kick out of it! The story follows Carter as he enters his freshman year of high school. He's trying to fit in, lose his virginity, be good at sports, understand girls, and understand what the allure of drinking is. It's brutally honest and teenagers will absolutely relate with it. There is lewd and illicit behavior, cursing, cops, underage drinking and sex so some conservative teens and parents might not buy into this book, but I didn't think it detracted from the story, it just made it more believable. Laugh out loud funny and will bring back painful memories of high school for all who read it.
    • 3/5
      WHAT IS IT ABOUT?Brent Crawford’s hilarious young adult novel “Carter Finally Gets It,” the first book in the Carter Finally Gets It series, welcomes the reader inside the head of Will Carter, a fourteen-year-old boy with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Carter is about to start his freshman year at high school and he is totally not ready. But who can blame him? Life is not easy when you are constantly distracted by hot chicks who make you stutter, bullies, peer pressure, expectations, alcohol, your hormones and ADD. “Carter Finally Gets It” is a highly entertaining high school comedy full of “lewd humor, underage drinking, illicit fantasizing, and very bad decision-making.”THUMBS UP:1) Laugh-out-loud hilarious.This book is truly funny. Yes, some of the humor is inappropriate, some of it might even be offensive, and almost all of it is quite silly; nevertheless, “Carter Finally Gets It” will get out of you at least a chuckle (but most likely a non-stop guffaw).2) Convincing portrayal of a mind with ADD.I don’t have any experience with the disorder myself, but if I imagined what happens in the head of a teenage boy with ADD, it would be something similar to Carter’s train of thought: impulsive, random and crowded with distractions and day dreaming.3) Fast and light read.“Carter Finally Gets It” has a nice flow, short chapters and tons of action thus it is a very quick read with a single purpose: to entertain.COULD BE BETTER:1) Not very realistic (I hope).Since this book is a comedy, some of it seems quite exaggerated. Though I do understand that teenagers are at times impulsive, reckless, irresponsible, aggressive, indecisive, mean, adventurous and, above all, horny, not ALL are like that and not ALL the time. I also believe that if they are like that, most of the parents would not be totally OK with it and would do something about it. And finally, I simply refuse to believe that quite a few girls in the same high school by the age of 14 can already have a reputation as “village bicycles” and are eager to “seal the deal” with random guys in the backyard bushes during a high school party.2) Not much more than a funny brainless read.This book is a great entertainment but not much else. The characters are rather one-dimensional (except for Carter, maybe) and thus are not very relatable. The plot is action-packed but not very thought-provoking. There is not much to take away from this book either; there is some kind of message at the end, but it is not very unique and rather underdeveloped.VERDICT:“Carter Finally Gets It” is a guffaw-inspiring and action-packed high school comedy, which is entertaining, fast and light but not much else.
    • 4/5
      Good YA book but confirms my previous idea that teenage boys are rude and crude!! If that is offensive to you, then avoid this book. However it did a good job of showing the thoughts of a 14-year-old boy & felt quite true-to-life.
    • 4/5
      Oh my gosh, this book was over the top and I loved it. I was often repulsed by Carter and his actions, but he is so damn funny in his inner monologue, and he means the best--especially when you consider he's pretty much a normal teenage boy. I never was one myself, but I have to imagine that most of them have the same kind of thoughts Carter has. And of course, he does finally get it in the end and isn't so much of a jerk.

      And now I also know why everyone raves about Nick Podehl's narrations. He was FANTASTIC. He uses every advantage he can with sound and is not afraid to scream if it's necessary. I can't wait to listen to another book narrated by him.
    • 4/5
      I waivered between 3&4 stars due to the voice. In the end the fact that Carter was so endearing won out. It was a great peak into the mind of the average teenage boy. The mistakes were heartbreaking and the triumphs, well triumphant.

      As others have mentioned, the voice sometimes reads as a 30 year-old trying to talk like a 14 yearold by using "what the kids say on that MTV." Overall an impressive debut young adult novel.
    • 5/5
      Laugh-out-loud funny, literally! I listened to this with a huge grin on my face so often, it was embarrassing! Nick Podehl is a master narrator!
    • 4/5
      Delightful. Well, okay, delightful is probably the wrong word for this book as it is so purely a fourteen-year-old young man's voice as to make one wince and squirm and blush and groan. But a tour-de-force, no doubt. I am so glad I can read this from a safe remove. Crawford's nailed it. Heh. Nailed it, get it? *snort*

      Highly recommended. I'm going to go force this on my kid and stand over him till he reads it.

    • 3/5
      If I was rating just the audio I would have gone four stars but as it is I had to keep it at three. Mostly because this book really isn't for me. But it's perfect for adolescent boys. Lots of degrading "hot chick" remarks, inappropriate use of certain descriptor words beginning with f and r. Basically things that make me nuts but I'm not a 14 year old boy. That said I still feel this book is authentic to it's characters and doesn't sugar coat the high school experience and was very accurate on the pressures guys face. And it was pretty funny too.
    • 4/5
      Not much of a plot, but a Year in the Life of Carter. Having never been a 14-year-old boy, I can't speak to exactly how authentic his voice is, but it sounded pretty realistic to me. Carter tries hard and sometimes misses the mark, but most of the time he's sweet, funny, and genuine. And for a sweet kid to be fourteen and attempting to navigate high school (accompanied by warnings from his older sister not to be a dork)--well, that's going to be hard on anyone.

      Pretty good audio version, too, though it's one of the annoying ones from Brilliance that has 99 tracks of 45 seconds each on each disc, so transferring to you mp3 player of choice might be a PITA. Mechanics aside, this is a narrator who was born to read for a 14-year-old boy. (He actually sounds a fair bit like Neil from Freaks and Geeks.)

      If you have boys looking for realistic fiction, preferably something funny, this is a good choice to hand them.
    • 3/5
      I had heard great things about this book, but it just really wasn't for me. I think any young man (8th-10th grade?) would probably think this was hilarious (unless it seems a little dated already), but as an almost 30-year-old woman, I got nothing out of it, ha ha. The main character was incredibly immature and annoying, and I felt like the book just went on and on. Like I said... just not for me.
    • 4/5
      Hilarious story about Carter, a typical horny teenage boy facing typical high school scenarios, but the way the story is told is great. Told in stream of consciousness by a boy with ADD.
    • 5/5
      This is the hilarious tale of Carter who is starting his freshman year of high school. Carter only has two goals get laid and become the coolest kid in school. Carter get himself into every possible misadventure imaginable and some you would never imagine in your wildest dreams! Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This hilarious novel tells the story of Will Carter's freshman year in high school. It begins in the summer with his awkward belly flop off the high dive, and takes the reader on a laugh out loud tale of young love, trying to fit in, and taking chances in high school. Throughout the story, Carter's ADD gets in the way of his focusing, causing some hilarious situations. Carter navigates his freshman year, not realizing that he is one of the most popular people at school, through football, swimming, getting cut from baseball, and eventually finding his voice in an unlikely outlet of theater. This great read gives a true account of high school for a young boy.
    • 4/5
      This is so completely high school! Not to mention from a boys perspective, which makes it even better. Carter is entering his first year of high school and is trying to make a new name for himself, not easy for an ADD boy who stutters when he gets nervous. Carter has to deal with girls, sports, and arch rivals, and that's just freshman year. Hilarious, well written, and a great reminder of why I'm glad high school is over, I'd recommend this to anyone above the age of 16.
    • 4/5
      Will Carter, with the very creative nickname of Carter, spends this book trying to make his way through his freshman year of high school. There are girls, bullies with behavioral disorders, sports, parties, and above all there are horrible choices. I don't want to give anything away, but at one point some horrible choices result in Carter in handcuffs and his best friend with a giant hole in the butt of his jeans. This is a very, very funny book about a very painful age.
    • 5/5
      Laugh out loud funny story as Carter tries to navigate fitting in at high school, being a jock, trying out some acting, and mostly, trying to get a girlfriend.
    • 4/5
      It's interesting to read "Carter Finally Gets It" and "Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn" within the same time span. Both novels attempt to get inside the mind of a teenage boy and find out what makes him tick. I imagine this is a valid concern for many teenage girls, trying to figure out what makes certain guys tick and why we act that we do. And while each novel concludes that guys are driven by one thing, it's interesting to see how differently each novel approaches that driving factor.With "Gideon" the feeling I got was that guys are motivated only by one thing--sex. And that's it. The insight into the guy's mind is that teenage boys think about sex A LOT. They think about the ways they could possibly have sex, where they could have sex and who they would like to have sex with. And that drives just about everything they do in trying to win over and impress girls. Honestly, the story doesn't go much deeper than that and, in the end, it becomes a bit repetitive by the halfway mark of the book. What will keep you reading is the curiosity factor over which of the characters is the first-person narrator with the all access pass to Gideon's mind. There were times I felt like skipping ahead to find out, but I kept thinking I might miss some pivotal moment or some character development. Alas, that never quite happens.On the other hand, you've got "Carter Finally Gets It," a story about high school freshman Will Carter and his journey though his first year of high school. Carter and his fellow male friends are clearly motivated by lust for their fellow females, but most of them would clearly have no idea what to do with a willing female should they get one. In fact, Carter and his crew really have no clue as to who they really are and instead put on airs and try to be the stud they all think the should be. The results are humorous and realistic. Carter starts off the book in a romance with his home ec partner from the previous year who has blossomed a bit. Helped by his older sister's advice, Carter is able to at first woo her but allows his early small successes such as holding her hand, kissing her and getting to first base to cloud his judgment and boost his ego. Before you know it, Carter is trying to have his cake and eat it too instead of just being the guy that he liked being and that most people liked him being.It all catches up to him in a realistic way and then the rest of the novel finds Carter finally "getting it" and figuring out who he is. Yes, by the novel's end Carter is still a hormonally imbalance waiting to happen, but there's been some growth and learning by Carter along the way. There's also been a couple of nice laughs that are grounded in the character. As I said in my review of "Swim the Fly," the tone is similar to the early "American Pie" movies where you had some crude humor but it was balanced by some heart. That's the case with "Carter" and while the book isn't necessarily perfect, it's still an interesting and enjoyable enough read.
    • 4/5
      Carter is about to enter high school, and all he can think about is girls and sex. His ADD gets in the way, sometimes causing him to stutter, which prevents him from talking to girls. But after getting advice from his older sister, he manages to snag a girlfriend, until some lockerroom bragging causes him to lose her. Hilarious and descriptive, this book offers a glimpse at what it's like to be a teenage boy.
    • 4/5
      Thoroughly enjoyable read! I found Carter to be one of the few male protagonists in recent YA fiction that seems like a real teenaged guy. It's nice to have a book that allows boys to see themselves on a page
    • 4/5
      The transition from middle school to high school is difficult in the best of circumstances. When you’ve got ADD, it’s even worse. Will Carter doesn’t have it easy. His mind wanders and when it does focus, it focuses mostly on girls. The summer between middle school and high school has some surprises in store for Carter. The first surprise is that Abby, who was a tad chunky in middle school, has matured and looks great, with curves in all the right places. The second surprise is that she likes Carter. He may not die a virgin!!!!But Carter is far from a pro at the whole girl thing. Tips from his sister, Lynn, on how to approach a girl helped him lasso Abby (not that she needed much lassoing). However, keeping Abby is another story. Seconds after declaring his love for her, he is manipulated into asking the coolest girl in the school, Amber Lee, to the homecoming dance. He’s oblivious to the fact that she merely needs a ride to the dance and her father thinks he’s cute. Carter tries a multitude of things to get the girl. Football, swimming, parties, etc. And he screws up at every turn, but somehow, he comes out better than he was at the beginning. Finally, he does find his calling and peer pressure won’t deter him.Carter Finally Gets It is Brent Crawford’s debut novel and it is laugh out loud funny. He has populated it with a cadre of Carter’s friends (EJ, Bag, Doc, J-Lo, Hormone) who add color to Carter’s already colorful escapades. The high school’s senior brutes like Scary Terry and Brock are a hoot and Carter can’t understand what Lynn sees in Brock. Carter just likes his truck. Abby’s girls (Amber Lee, Bitchy Nicky) are a force to be reckoned with. They stick up for each other…when they’re not stabbing each other in the back.Anyone who went through puberty will relate to someone in Carter Finally Gets It. It is the perfect summertime read. So, Get It.
    • 4/5
      Will Carter is about to start high school, and enter the hilarious world of the teenage boy. This episodic novel takes us from the summer before his freshman year, to the following summer, and along the way Carter gets into some coke-through-nose-snortingly funny situations. I laughed my self into a stitch several times - Carter is such a likeable character, and while you can see him getting into trouble, you can't help but empathise with him. With a head full of sex, questions, grudges and confusion, Carter is pure teen boy, and it was wonderful to hang out with him. I'd give this to people looking for funny or realistic high school stories, especially boys.