The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.  By Junot Diaz.
 
Oscar is a sweet, fat, clueless, science-fiction reading nerd from a place, the Dominican Republic, where nerdiness is an affront to the culture.  He desperately loves women, and is astonishingly bad at attracting them or dealing with them. 
 
And yet it’s his success with one woman that leads to his death.
 
“Oscar Wao” won the Pulitzer prize. That’s not a guarantee that a book will be fun to read, but this one is. It’s funny and sad and smart.  
 
If the death of the title character distresses you, don’t read this.  Otherwise, I’d highly recommend it to anyone over 16.