Reading like a cross between Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Karate Kid, Don Calame’s Swim the Fly finds nerdy 15-year-old Matt Gratton conspiring with his equally nerdy buddies, Cooper and Sean, to achieve their summer goal: to see a naked girl for the first time.

The trio live in Lower Rockville, a sort of North American everysuburb, and compete on the local swim team. Matt is crushing on a new girl on the team named Kelly, and to impress her, he volunteers to swim the butterfly in the regional championships. The problem is, not only will Matt have to compete against Kelly’s ex-boyfriend, star athlete Tony Grillo (a.k.a. Tony the Gorilla), but Matt sucks at the butterfly.

Humour and hormones are Swim’s dual fuels. The novel tests the boundaries of what some adults might deem tasteful. Major plot points include a diarrheal disaster, a barfing extravaganza, and a backfiring visit to a nude beach. There’s plenty of girl-ogling on the part of the boys, and Calame has a knack for lacing their dialogue with creative euphemisms. Cooper, in particular, displays a shockingly coarse flair for inventing names for girls’ nether regions (“the Wookie’s smile,” “mouse house,” “golden donut,” etc.)

Calame delivers a fast-paced, well structured story that is laced with hilarity, sweetness and wisdom. If adults can get past the naughty stuff, Swim the Fly is, in fact, the sort of book that could tweak many boys to the fun of reading. There’s nothing here that boys don’t encounter daily among their peers, and it is all relatively innocent. Indeed, Calame, previously an elementary teacher and a screenwriter, shows tremendous sensitivity to the awkwardness, insecurity, and frustration of being a 15-year-old boy, and nails the exhilaration of young love.