It is a great book because it has an all out war against two fast food restaurants and includes some humor. The cover and the title made me choose it. AHS/DM

This was a good book. It was straightforward and surprising. It was embarrassing and frustrating and silly and sweet and the fact that it packed all that into a semi-short ya book makes it a book to recommend according to my standards!

It's the story of a teenage boy who is dealing (not very appropriately at times) with a friend lost to the realms of obsessive, sweet love, a girlfriend who publicly "chose another" and a new job at which the only sane person lives in the bushes beside a local ATM.

Intrigued yet? ( )

Dumped by his girlfriend, the protagonist whose name I've already forgotten concocts an elaborate revenge scheme based around going to work at the fast food place she used to work. Hysterically funny and deeply disturbing about the disposable minimum-wage high school job industry, but the teenage stuff is less interesting. ( )

Anthony Gonzales
EDCI 4120

Anderson, M.T. (1999). Burger Wuss. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick.

Grade Levels: 10-12
Category: Realistic Fiction
Read-Alouds: pp. 5-26 (Introduction), 57-67 (Anthony and Shunt plan to steal the troll), 118-126 (The second of revenge), 178-182 (Conclusion).

Summary: Anthony was in love with Diana, and she finally started dating him. They were happy until they were at a party and Anthony’s friends found Diana with another guy, Turner. From that day on, it was Anthony’s goal to get revenge on Turner for what he had done. He got a job working at O’Dermit’s fast food chain. In his revenge, Anthony got together with an Anarchist named Shunt, who he tricked to help him with revenge. Turner tried to get Anthony fired, but because he was a star employee, the manager did not believe anything Anthony had to say. Anthony and Shunt had stolen a troll from the rival business Burger Queen, but by stealing the troll, an huge feud broke out between O’Dermit and BQ. In the end, so much damage was created because of Anthony’s need for revenge, and Diana still did not want to go with him.

Themes: I believe that the theme of this novel is revenge. It shows how getting even with someone can affect more than just the person that you are trying to get revenge from. All the damage that was caused to the restaurant, and the huge war that broke out is a perfect example how getting revenge can get out of control. It’s kind of like a lie, how one lie turns to two and before you know it, you are buried in lies that can make things miserable. I do think the friendship in the novel is very important as well because all the friends in this novel stick together. Even Shunt comes back to see Anthony in the end of the novel.

Discussion Questions:
What would you have done in Anthony’s situation?
What is the connection between Anthony and Shunt?
What is the significance of Anthony stealing the condiment troll?

Reader Response: I think that the biggest aspect of the novel that I could relate to was how Anthony had such a hard time meeting girls, and when he did meet them, they wanted to be “just friends”. That has happened to me so many times when I was in high school, and I felt the same way, frustrated and annoyed. I never really had a problem with getting revenge on someone, but I do know people who have gotten revenge, but it only got them in deeper trouble than the one whom they were getting revenge on. This novel was completely different than Anderson’s Feed. I think I enjoyed Burger Wuss much better. ( )

this book is about a comdey, romance, and drama. A boy getsa job for a fast food place. Through out the book he meet a besst friend, a girlfriend and the person that took his girlfriend.
T.E.