This is a direct sequel to the first, except this one takes the POV of the group’s Stifler.

There’s a reason that Stifler is a secondary character in the American Pie series and not one of the main four/three. You can only take him in small doses. As comic relief, he’s not supposed to learn anything or grow. The Stifler in American Pie is the Stifler in American Wedding (I didn’t see American Reunion). He’s the trickster, the shapeshifter. He challenges the status quo. He’s the foul-mouthed friend with the crazy schemes. He’s a little bit the enemy — how far will he drag his friends down to pursue his own self-interests?

And you’re going to make a novel about him?

I almost quit in the beginning. Cooper is chauvinistic in a way that doesn’t mesh with 2020 culture. He’s the same character as the last book–obsessed with who’s cool and who’s not. Staring at boobs. Making constant sex jokes and double entendres. Wanting to get with the hotties and naught with the notties. Trying to prove he’s a macho man, almost to the point where he’s a bully. Spending more time and effort avoiding work than actually doing the work. And wanting to bone everything in sight, even if that’s not how teenagers are.

But…

It gets better. The big conflict is that, for his Health class project, he’s paired with a “persona non grata” girl. All he’s worried about is how this will affect his reputation and how to either get out of it or do as little work as possible. And as you’d expect, Coop’s journey is him learning to see women as people instead of weird objects indicative of status and pleasure. And that there are more important things than how you are seen by other people. And I guess I’m a sucker for that kind of story, as that was a common trope in during my teen years (e.g. The Outsiders, She’s All That, American Pie 2, Carrie, Harry Potter). If you can get used to the constant sex references, there’s a decent story in here–a romance and a comedy.

Most times when I read a sequel, I usually don’t have much to say. My oft-repeated tagline is “If you’ve read the first one you’ve probably already decided whether or not you’ll read the second one.” But in this case they’re different books. The first has a butt-monkey as the main character and this one stars the “jerk with a heart of gold”. You don’t need to read the first one, but why not? They’re both good books. ( )

Don Calame's first book, Swim the Fly, while irreverent and filled with (gross) 9th grade boy teasing, fantasies, and crassness, made me laugh out loud. This second book, as the threesome are sophomores, seemed to dip further into male crassness, outright lewdness, and often made me squirm not laugh. It righted itself eventually - Cooper emerges from his skulking, total lack of respect for his friends' feelings, and responsibility- dodging obsession to be with the "hot" girls of the school- and stands up for his newfound friend Helen, the mocked and shunned girl of his sophomore class. But it took a long time to get there. Thus the two stars; not recommended for every student, only those who can look beyond the aforementioned yuck factor and hang in there for the guys' triumphant band performance as a team, and Cooper's eventual moral compass to realign. ( )

Sequel to "Swim the Fly" ( )

Hilarious follow up to Swim the Fly. Matt, Seth, & Coop continue their "growth" in high school. This time they plan to enter a beat the band competition to enhance their chances with the opposite sex. The usual gross out humor with their attempts to be with girls is realistic and funny. Wrapped throughout is the story of Coop changing as he gets to know his partner for a big health project. Funny AND a story. Flew threw is while laughing to myself and out loud. ( )

Cooper is an asshole--I kind of thought that in the first book, too--but he manages to be so likeable anyway.

And I still love Nick Podehl as a narrator. ( )