The critically acclaimed author of American Nerd makes his fiction debut with this romantic tragicomedy about a teenage boy and girl who discover his dad is having an affair with her mom. At fifteen, Josh Paquette and Khadijah Silverglate-Dunn catch Josh's father and Khadijah's mother kissing in a natural foods store. They make a pact never to cheat on anyone, ever. They have no problem keeping the vow-until they meet again at twenty-eight, both struggling with career and identity, and both engaged to other people. Part interethnic romance, part intergenerational conflict, Good Kids is a hilarious, sad, handsomely plotted story of love and class in the era of the redefined household. Stylistically adventurous but always accessible, Nugent trains a keen ear on the vernaculars of generation Y and the baby boomers, as young and middle-aged alike try to decide what parenting, background, and loyalty mean in late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century America.
"Fans of character-driven literary fiction will find much to enjoy in Nugent's novel."
Booklist
"This dazzling first novel is many things at once: an incisive examination of class and politics, a richly comic portrayal of humiliation and self-loathing, and a guided tour of love in its varied forms. Benjamin Nugent's writing is alive with intelligence, authenticity, and angst. Fans of Jonathan Franzen, you just may have found your new favorite writer."
Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and Prep
