Why Can't Life Be Like Pizza?

A novel about RV, who is not your typical 14-year-old, though he wants to be. He has parents who are immigrants. He likes reading and making up words. He worries about terrorists. And on top of all that RV might be gay. It's a lot to deal with for a guy just beginning his freshman year in a demanding high school in downtown Boston. RV thinks his problems are solved when he starts going out with Carole, but things only get more complicated when RV develops a crush on Bobby, the football player in his class.