In the last couple of weeks, I’ve read two books that were very guy-friendly and one thing that both of them had in common was how darn funny they were. First, I read Steven Goldman’s Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath, which had me laughing out loud at a couple of places. Then, I got to a book that made me laugh way more than a few times out loud: Blake Nelson’s Destroy All Cars.

When I began Nelson’s book, I was a little worried. I’d read a number of reviews that claimed it was nothing but a “liberal agenda set forth in teen fiction.” While I don’t mind a book with a political bent in any direction, this particular one had me a bit worried. Fortunately, Destroy All Cars was so not just an agenda.

James Hoff is a very angry teen, but not in the manner you’d suspect. Hoff spends his time railing against the factors that are destroying our planet, and more specifically, he spends significant time pointing out how much cars are ruining the planet with their emissions and their gas consumption. At 17, he is acutely aware of how important it is to cherish the environment and make strides against seeing it destroyed. How fitting, too, he lives in suburban Portland, Oregon, which allows this entire aspect of the plot to manifest quite well.

But James’s story is not just about his anger at environmental destruction. Rather, this is a story about losing the first girl he ever had real feelings for: Sadie. She was his first real girlfriend for him he had real feelings, and the break up was hard for him. James spends a lot of time in his junior year thinking about other girls and who he can potentially have relationships with post-Sadie. Although we’re briefly introduced to a few girls, it is quite clear he’s not interested in anyone but Sadie. And why Sadie, you ask? Well, she, too, is quite concerned about the world and rallies for any number of causes.

The story chronicles James’s interest in lambasting consumerist America and his interest in getting back together with Sadie.