Dispatches From Parts Unknown, by Bryan Bliss

Julie and her mother have lived without her Dad for three years.  And while the death still affects them, life goes on.  Julie goes to the Mall and gets two Orange Juliuses and her best friend Max who works there never asks any questions about the extra one.  It might be for herself, or for her Dad, or for her constant companion, a professional wrestler named The Masked Man that no one except she can see.

In comparison, the rest of the story makes sense.  Like her favorite teacher's decision to put Julie on the prom committee to help get her out more.  Or the way that a popular extrovert Bri would latch on to her and fall in love with Max the Orange Julius guy.  Or the way that two skaters (God and Legs) would commandeer the prom committee and convince the school to embrace a Top Gun (the original version) - themed prom.  Or that Julie would find herself actually going to the prom with Legs as her date in the end.  Somehow, all of these non-sequiturs add up to a story about moving on from your grief.

The book is quirky and weird and funny, but surprisingly slow.  With so many storylines (few of which actually resolve), it is hard to say what the story really is about.  The invisible pro wrestler is a cute idea but doesn't really add much to the story and quickly becomes repetitive and dull.  Almost everything else simply peters out (prom is anti-climactic, a wrestling match in the Mall which ought to be the climax gets cut off at the end suddenly).  It's an original story, but weird and unique does not make for compelling reading.