Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie is a young-adult novel written by David Lubar, focusing on young Scott Hudson's freshman year at J. P. Zenger High. The book is written partly as a narrative from Scott's point of view and the "letters" that Scott writes for his expected new sibling (which gradually evolves into a diary of sorts for Scott). Scott's freshman year is one of mostly comical ups and downs, where he has to deal with overwhelming amounts of schoolwork, friends both old and new, his loving but troubled brother, and how a childhood friend grows into the girl of his dreams.

Tropes used in Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie include:

• Adorkable: Scott, stemming from his genuine love of literature and learning.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: How Scott's mother justifies Julia's attraction to Jerk Jock Vernon.
• Book Dumb: Scott's older brother Bobby is a more serious case in that he's revealed to be illiterate.
• Cool Teacher: Mr. Franka, Scott's English teacher, is not only his favortie, but also a Lafayette graduate and a former Marine.
• Dance of Romance: Subverted in that Scott's dance with Julia at the last school dance doesn't amount to more than a sweet reacquaintance. Might be the case between Scott and Lee though.
• Deadpan Snarker: Scott dishes out some knife-sharp one-liners when he's in a particularly irritated mood.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Double-subverted; Julia opening up to Scott after breaking up with Vernon makes it seem like a case of Loser Gets the Girl, but Scott decides that his friendship with Lee was more important than what was more or less a shallow crush. Doesn't mean he doesn't regret it, but both seem happy to be Just Friends later on.
• Dogged Nice Guy: For most of the novel, it seems like the universe is determined to not let Scott get Julia.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Cravutto, Scott's gym teacher.
• Girl Next Door: Julia.
• Driven to Suicide: Poor, poor Mouth. Thank goodness that it wasn't pulled through, but it certainly is a wham moment in an otherwise light-hearted book.
• Hollywood Tone Deaf: Not helped by the fact that Scott's voice happened to be maturing just as he was auditioning for the musical.
• Jerkass: Vernon all the way. Kyle is arguably worse, going from being a simple Jerk Jock to this by the end.
• Jerk Jock: Vernon and some of his football buddies are textbook examples; Kyle becomes one to the point where he and Scott become completely estranged.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Scott's letters to his unborn sibling can make him come off as this.
• Loners Are Freaks: Lee's refusal to fit into any of the school's cliques makes her come off as this.
• Motor Mouth: Mouth. So much.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: None of Scott's Spanish teachers except his last one can pronounce Spanish without some French, Vietnamese, or something added into the mix.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Mouth, whose real name is Louden. You be the judge on which is worse.
• Perky Goth: Lee.
• She's All Grown Up: Julia elicits this reaction from Scott the moment he sees her at the bus stop on their first day.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Scott (a major bookworm who loves to learn but relatively average in anything else) and Bobby (a high school dropout who fixes cars and now works as a struggling guitarist). Despite this, they are very close and often support each other in times of need.
• Shout-Out: Given to several renowned works of literature thanks to Scott, some of which include The Princess Bride, Ender's Game, and Tuck Everlasting.
• Supreme Chef: Scott's mom is a fantastic cook.
• Troubled but Cute: Bobby.
• Tom Swifty: Scattered throughout the book, though they're all made by Scott and other various characters purposefully after learning them in English class and finding them hilarious.