the big house book club

"CALL ME ZITS" is the opening line of FLIGHT
by  SHERMAN ALEXIE, casa’s next book club book.

zits is a 15-year-old half-indian, half-irish, acne-covered, time-traveling mass murderer. he never knew his alcoholic father; his mother died when he was six; his aunt kicked him out when he was 10 (after he set her sleeping boyfriend on fire because the boyfriend had been molesting zits). he runs away from his 20th foster home, and ends up, briefly, in jail; soon after, he enters a bank, shoots several people, and is shot dead himself. zits then begins time-traveling in other people’s bodies, finding himself inside an fbi agent in the '70s (who helps assassinate radical indian activists); a mute indian boy at the battle of little big horn; an irish soldier; a homeless indian drunk; an airplane pilot who helps a muslim terrorist; and his own father. zits eventually becomes himself again and finds an unexpected redemption. smart, funny, and resilient, zits is profoundly transformed, as the hero in a tale of ordeals is supposed to be, by his time-traveling and shape-shifting experiences. he learns that anyone of any background is equally capable of good and evil. alexie's fast-paced novel sucks you in; it makes you laugh, and makes you think about flight in a whole new way.