“Axel’s writing crackles with energy and hard-won insight, capturing Oscar’s inner monologue in a way that feels both authentic and deeply relatable.” — BookLife Reviews (Editor’s Pick)

WITTY, DEFIANT OSCAR TELLS A HEARTBREAKINGLY RELATABLE, OFTEN HILARIOUS STORY OF A MISUNDERSTOOD, MISTAKE-RIDDLED BOY LOOKING FOR PURPOSE. IT’S RAW EMOTION, DARK HUMOR, AND A TEENAGE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS ROLLED INTO ONE COMING-OF-AGE ON THE ROAD ADVENTURE.

Oscar Danielsson isn’t ready for the real world—yet. But he’s 18 now, and everyone’s got expectations. Why not? With his sharp wit and melancholy good looks, his future's as promising as anybody’s. Lie. He’s not like anybody. He’ll take his bedroom over hanging out. Self-medication over whatever his shrink prescribes for his ADHD. And it’s hard enough to get out of bed in the morning, let alone write a stupid paper in time to graduate from high school. If it wasn't for his old spaniel, Enzo, he's not sure he'd want to stick around. Just when he meets Bette, the weirdest cute girl on the planet, a scrape with the law Oscar’s too out of it to remember sends him blasting down America's highways with his eccentric Grammy. Leaving Bette, Enzo, and all his vices behind is torture. But if they make good time, he can repay his debts to his boss, snag his diploma, and slip back into bed like nothing ever happened. Another lie.

If you fell for Charlie Kelmeckis in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sutter Keely in The Spectacular Now, or Theodore Finch in All the Bright Places, Promising Young Man’s Oscar Danielsson will melt, break, and then repair your heart.