weekend read: The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak

A young adult novel set in an all-night comic convention featuring a Dungeons and Dragons nerd and a quiz bowl queen who hate each other but ultimately fall in love.

I mean, it’s so dorky and brilliant and I loved it.

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher is told from the alternating point of view of Ana, a high achieving high school senior, and Zak, a total slacker comic book, Star Wars, wanna-be tech guy. And after a series of bad choices by Zak, he is unwillingly along for a weekend quiz bowl competition to save his failing health grade due to plagiarism.

And when Ana’s younger brother, a whiz-kid named Clayton, goes missing the night before the championship, Ana can’t let her parents find out she’s lost her brother and so she takes off with Zak, her arch enemy, to track him down. Of course, nothing goes as planned and they meet a variety of crazy characters at the comic con Clayton has run off to.

I’m not ruining the book when I say they, naturally, fall in love. I knew that from the cover and I still loved the story, it was just fun and entertaining.

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher is a great YA read that kids of all types will love to read. Plus, YA-loving adults will enjoy this one too.

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