History Literature / Stuck

* BuffySpeak: There's quite a bit, even from the usually polysyllabic Cale.

* Dramedy

->''"Hi. My name is Tre, and my life is frakking nuts."''
-->-- The opening line from Tre, the novel's protagonist

Describe Literature/{{Stuck}} here?

Well, we're not sure if that's even possible, but maybe we can try it out...

Stuck is a novel-in-progress by Lyle Terry, or as he's known 'round these parts, {{Tropers/Tre}}. The book is about [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist a]] [[ButtMonkey guy]], who is [[{{Adorkable}} also]] [[MyNaymeIs named]] [[MeaningfulName Tre]] and his change from being an average 13-year-old to being a [[LeParkour parkour]] expert (and an [[spoiler: [[ClearMyName unfairly wanted fugitive]]]]) and finding footing on his relationship with his snarky [[PlayingWith/VictoriousChildhoodFriend sort of]] [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend childhood friend/current girlfriend]], Nora Irving.

Okay, that isn't even the half of it.

As Tre says in the preface, the book is also about "insane night guards, kids that sleep in malls, shopping cart accidents, teachers and bullies that want your head on a silver plate, love, bounty hunters, and dozens of other occurrences". And that is only the beginning.


Think of it as [[DiaryOfAWimpyKid Diary of a Wimpy Kid]] [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on a heavy dose of adrenaline]], with near everything a media-overdosed 13-year-old boy could [[AffectionateParody parody]] mixed in for extra flavor. The book is split into three "episodes", sort of like the StarWars trilogy, but that's where any similarity ends. (Besides maybe being a GeorgeLucasThrowback, and even so that's a ''maybe''.)

!!The Episodes!
* Episode One, ''"[[http://www.scribd.com/doc/29015320/Stuck-at-the-Galleria Stuck at the Galleria]]''", focuses on the aftermath of a caffeinated root beer (namely, Barq's, aka the only one with caffeine in it)-induced shopping cart accident in a department store in the Galleria caused by Tre, which sets off a chain of events that lead to many quick plans, meeting a ragtag group of kids that live in the mall, an insane night guard who is given the [[EmbarrassingNickName nickname Cow by the kids]], and the start of the relationship between Tre and Nora.
* Episode Two, ''"[[http://db.tt/n6c5kuP Stuck at School]]"'', which takes place 7 months later, is a recount of the first half of the group's seventh grade school year at Fillmore {{Junior High}}, and its bullies, teachers and other things that make Tre's head spin. [[spoiler:It doesn't end well. Turns out a teacher Tre thought was evil but everyone else didn't was working for/in love with Cow, and the two are successfully able to capture them and send them to a empty white room in the 13th level of a skyscraper. And to make things worse, Nora left Tre for his jerkass rival Todd.]]
* The third and final episode, "Stuck at the Wheel", (formerly known as ''Stuck at the Crossroads of Life'') is about [[spoiler:their escape]] and the wild chases that ensue around Greyson City as a result. Also includes relationship repairs, awesome Blindsided Shades sunglasses, LeParkour, falls down elevator shafts and a lot more.

WordOfGod has said the book will be released "whenever I get around to it" after being delayed five times due to quality and length issues. Episode One, "Stuck at the Galleria", is on Scribd now as an exclusive read for TV Tropes itself and {{Tumblr}}.

!!The Examples!

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Sal is a sword that can cut through dang near anything, [[BeyondTheImpossible and she's made of plastic.]] And Tre bought her from a ''dollar store,'' no less.
* ActionGirl: Nora and Allison take the cake, though all of them qualify.
* {{Adorkable}}: Tre and Grassy. In fact, this is why Nora dates Tre in the first place.
* [++AffectionateParody++]: Oh, yeah. Literally ''nothing'' is taken seriously, except for the very end of School and a little of Wheel.
* AfraidOfBlood: Tre. Oh, dear God, Tre.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: Ghost Greyson City.
* ArcNumber: 3. There are three episodes, three main characters (Tre, Nora and Grassy or Max, depending on who you ask), Tre's name literally means "three" in Italian, his full name is Trevor Listman III, he asks what the square root of 9 is to [[spoiler: Todd]] during the finale, the back cover's background is a pattern of triangles, Sal has 3 stripes down her hilt, [[spoiler: Todd]] refers to Tre as "third-rate", Tre and Nora were separated from each other for 3 years, Tre has 3 minutes and 33 seconds [[spoiler: to save himself from dying]], the Dynamo's one of 300 Challengers made during its model year with a convertible top, and [[spoiler: its miniature, electric-powered cousin seats 3.]]
* AuthorAvatar: Tre, who is an avatar of the troper [[@/{{Tre}} of the same name]].
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: Nora during the not-quite-last part of Wheel.]]
* [[BitchInSheepsClothing Hussy In Sheep's Clothing]]: [[spoiler: Julianne]]
* BeigeProse: The text can veer into this occasionally.
* BetterThanABareBulb
* BlackAndNerdy: Tre.
* BlandNameProduct: Various examples throughout the book, for example, "Guitar Villain."
* BrickJoke: Allison and Cale are merely hinted at for a good chunk of Episodes One and Two. [[spoiler: Until Tre loses Nora and The Crew, that is.]]
* BrilliantButLazy: Tre, Grassy and Allison.
* BuffySpeak: Everyone, except possibly Allison and Nora. One great example from Max: “I hate to break up your little lovey- dovey kiss-kiss moment, but we’ve got a mission to complete here.”
* CallBack: The last fight Tre has against [[spoiler: Todd]] in the final episode is a ThreeRoundDeathmatch, similar in vein to the ones he had in his fighting games with Jake nearly a year before.
* ChopSockey: Parodied (affectionately, of course!). "I must say that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours your Glass Fu is no match for my Judo Chop]]!"
* CombatPragmatist: Everyone in the main group, except Tre, because he doesn't know how to fight. [[spoiler: Until he meets The Messenger.]]
* CoolCar: The Dynamo, a year-unspecified Dodge Challenger with a retracting top, and later, [[spoiler: Cale's tiny, electric modified Power Wheels version of it, the Dynamo Jr.]]
* CoolLoser: ''Everyone.''
* CoverDrop: Just before [[spoiler: Tre and Nora's first kiss]], Tre pulls one.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Stuck at the Wheel. It covers a lot more in terms of thematic elements, not to mention [[spoiler: Tre's rather, erm, [[{{PrimalFear}} unsettling fall]] ]] and whatnot.
* DeadpanSnarker: Nora is the biggest example, with Grassy as a close second. (Tre [[SubvertedTrope laughs at his snarks too much to be one,]] at least outside of his head. Inside, he's possibly able to match Nora, and boy, does it show in the narration.)
* DistressedDamsel: Double subverted in the case of [[spoiler: Nora]]. She does put up a good fight, but her captors had a [[BatmanGambit wide-scale plan that depended on her fighting]].
* DisneyDeath: Played with. [[spoiler:Tre thinks he's going to die twice, but only once does it actually have a chance of happening. Even so, had ghost!Tre not saved real!Tre he would've died for real.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Gordon Scott, aka Grassy. Hoover Dam. You can tell he ''really'' wants Allison. [[spoiler: Well, lucky him.]]
* EmbarrassingNickname: Come on, do you really think that anyone would like being called Cow?
* EvilTwin / EvilCounterpart: The Shadow is Tre's. Wait, is Tre the evil one and The Shadow good? According to The Shadow, yes. Trevor Listman and [[spoiler: Todd Levesque are their full names. Considering that they've got the same initials, that kind of proves this point.]]
** Nora and [[spoiler: November]] also count.
* TheFaceless: Until about halfway through Wheel, The Shadow.
* FiveManBand: Granted, there are 8 of them, but after Stuck at the Galleria the other four mostly fade into the background, though they all come back in Wheel.
** TheHero: Tre [[spoiler:Listman]]
** TheLancer / TheBigGuy: Max Cromwell
** TheDitz: Cici Benz
** TheSmartGuy: Gordon "Grassy" Scott
** TheChick: Nora Irving
* ForegoneConclusion: If you're a fan of the song [[spoiler: "Loser"]] by Beck (or [[{{BilingualBonus}} speak Spanish]]), then the name of Part Nine, "The Best Frakking Day Ever, or Todos Somos Perdedores", should already tell you [[spoiler: that Tre and the Crew don't win.]]
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Cale does this to Tre when Tre rebuffs his speech to convince him to [[spoiler: return to Greyson and fight Todd]].
* GRatedDrug: Caffeine. Dear lord, caffeine.
* GrayAndGreyMorality: Wheel (mostly) doesn't really have any "good" or "evil" guys. [[spoiler: Tre and the Crew are just trying to clear their names and get their lives back, while the Greyson Police, as [[KnightTemplar Templarish]] as they may be, are just following their orders.]] Cow and The Shadow [[spoiler:a.k.a. Todd]] are the only really "evil" ones, and one of them is later considered mentally insane.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Allison and Cale are largely portrayed as this. They also might or might not be [[spoiler: ninjas.]]
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: ''Stuck at the Galleria, Stuck at School'' and ''Stuck at the Wheel''. Actually seen here, [[BeyondTheImpossible in a book that isn't going to have (direct) sequels.]] Granted, it is divided into "episodes" so it's justified.
* IGotBetter: Averted, as [[spoiler: Tre never does actually die.]]
* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler: Tre gets his mohawk]] in Episode Three, which also is the episode where he grows the most in maturity.
* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: Stuck is supposed to be said as a sentence. (The period's on the cover for a reason.)
* InTheBack: How [[spoiler: Todd]] attempts to kill [[spoiler: Tre]].
* JustFriends: Tre and Allie. [[spoiler: No, they do not end up together.]]
* LargeHam: Tre, Cow, Max, Grassy, Cici, Cale... heck, let's just say [[WorldOfHam everyone except Nora (and maybe Allison if she's in a particularly pissy mood) is one.]]
* LeParkour: Tre learns a little.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: At least 40 total.
* LovableNerd: Tre, Cale and Grassy, all for their own slightly differing reasons.
* LoveDodecahedron: Considering that this is about a bunch of teenagers, this can sort of be expected.
** Tre likes Nora who might or might not like Todd who is dating November and likes Nora despite the fact that she's taken. Additionally, you've got Allie, who was dating Cale but it didn't work out, so as a result she now has UST with Tre, who is in like with Nora. Finally, Grassy likes Allie, and his best friend Max is in a relationship with Mal. Ultimately, [[spoiler: Tre and Nora, Max and Mal, and Grassy and Allie get together, while Cale stays single and November and Todd get arrested, effectively breaking them up.]]
* NarrativeFiligree: Coming from who's telling the story, of course. With [[DeadpanSnarker some bite too.]]
* NoodleIncident: That thing with the Mentos, the Diet Coke, the eggs and the pack of coat hangers. It apparently happened during the timespan skipped over between episodes 1 and 2.
--> '''Cale:''' I swear, it was a really big accident, which might or might not be the reason why Reality Records is closed! I dunno! Jeez!
* [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You To Dine]]: The Shadow/[[spoiler: Todd]] invites Tre to dinner when he [[spoiler: kidnaps Nora]].
* NonLethalKO: Tre pulls these on a regular basis during Wheel because he doesn't want (or need, really) to kill anyone. [[TechnicalPacifist Nobody said anything about not messing 'em up a bit, though.]]
* MegatonPunch: The Friendpunch, a version that is essentially a two-person [[spoiler: or three]] version of this, is used twice by Tre and Allie. [[spoiler: And later, Cale.]]
* PrankDate: Lilly Rockwell does this to Tre at the dance in the beginning.
* PostCyberpunk: Experiments with it at times, most notably in the later two episodes.
* PostModernism: ''Everyone'' knows they are a character in a book and the role they play. Well, everyone except Cow, who [[spoiler: loses his status as a villain rather embarrassingly in Wheel after Todd takes over.]]
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Tre and the Crew at the mall, in the first episode.
* RuleOfCool: The staplers, and [[{{Lampshade}} Grassy knows this]].
-->'''Max:''' How is that even possible?
-->'''Grassy:''' That's the thing. It's ''not.''
** It has wavering lengths. Apparently staplers can be turned into machine guns via way of a spring replacement, but fashoning a key out of a paperclip doesn't work. [[spoiler: Breaking through the glass window of the door certainly does though!]]
* {{Shoryuken}}: A double [[spoiler: (or triple!)]] version is found in the Friendpunch.
* [[spoiler:SamusIsAGirl]]: The Messenger. [[spoiler: At least, half of it is. The one who fights the Crows as The Messenger is Allison, Tre's old friend who we saw for 5 seconds in Galleria along with the other half of The Messenger, Cale, but then disappeared.]]
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Cale is the most prone to it, though Tre also is to a lesser extent.
* ShoutOut: It has [[ShoutOut/{{Stuck}} a page.]]
* SliceOfLife: As a counterpoint to the inherent craziness, the story veers into this at times, and though even the cast's lives are crazy by comparison to real life Tre explains it by blaming it on the city's reputation for being an "insane person's wonderland".
* SophisticatedAsHell: “Well, if you got it, then bring it on, you minuscule-brained imbecile. Or, in other words, [[ThisIsSparta Bring. It. On. Sucka.]]"
* TechnicalPacifist: Tre. Well, he ''wants'' to be an ActualPacifist, but [[spoiler: his fugitive status in Wheel keeps him from said luxury.]]
* ThisIsSparta: See "Sophisticated As Hell".
* ThreeRoundDeathmatch: The game Tre and Jake were addicted to followed this format, and Tre always lost 1-2. [[spoiler: The finale fight between him and Todd does too, but he wins it.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Tre. The rest of the Crew were pretty good [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]] pre-Wheel, but by the time [[spoiler: he learns how to fight with Allison's help he's pretty equal to them.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tre's is Barq's root beer. (No wonder caffeine makes him go nuts.)
* {{Troperiffic}}: Yep. The book isn't even ''out yet'' and the page is already this long.
* TrueCompanions: The Crew.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Tre. He's not a jerkass (at least, not out loud), yeah, but otherwise, he qualifies.
* UnusualEuphemism: FRAK!
* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Grassy during Wheel. The Messenger/[[spoiler: Allison and Cale]] does too, but [[spoiler:they]] only communicates via text message and phone calls.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Tre and Nora play with this like a toy. [[spoiler:They do end up together in the end, but double subvert this in the process because Nora thinks Tre's cheating on her, and as a result breaks up with him halfway through School.]]
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: "So, I've got a question for you, [[spoiler: Todd.]] ''What's the square root of 9?''"
* WorldOfBadass / WorldOfHam: Oh, yes. If everything wasn't over-the-top, the story just would not work.
* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Frak Is Greyson City?]]: An as-of-yet unanswered question.
* WriteWhoYouKnow: Tre, Nora, Max, Grassy and a lot of the rest of the cast are based on [[{{Tropers/Tre}} Tre's]] real life friends (and himself, though saying that again would probably be overkill).
----
'''''Endgame.'''''

* LeParkour: Tre [[{{Understatement}} learns a little.]]

* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: Nora during the last part of Wheel.]]

* {{Nakama}}: The Crew.

* WorldOfBadass / WorldOfHam: Oh, yes. If everything wasn't over-the-top, the story just would not work.* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Frak Is Greyson City?]]: An as-of-yet unanswered question.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Sal is a sword that can cut through dang near anything, [[BeyondTheImpossible made of plastic.]] And bought from a ''dollar store,'' no less.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Sal is a sword that can cut through dag near anything, [[BeyondTheImpossible made of plastic.]] And bought from a ''dollar store,'' no less.

----

* MegatonPunch: The Friendpunch, a version that is essentially a two-person [[spoiler; or three]] version of this, is used twice by Tre and Allie. [[spoiler: And later, Cale.]]

* TheCombatPragmatist: Everyone in the main group, except Tre, because he doesn't know how to fight. [[spoiler: Until he meets The Messenger.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Tre. The rest of the Crew were pretty good [[TheCombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]] pre-Wheel, but by the time [[spoiler: he learns how to fight with Allison's help he's pretty equal to them.]]

* ForegoneConclusion: If you're a fan of the song [[spoiler: "Loser"]] by Beck (or [[{{BilingualBonus}} speak Spanish]]), then the name of Part Nine, "The Best Frakking Day Ever, or Todos Somos Perdedores", should already tell you [[spoiler: that Tre and the gang don't win.]]

* GrayAndGreyMorality: Wheel (mostly) doesn't really have any "good" or "evil" guys. [[spoiler: Tre and the gang are just trying to clear their names and get their lives back, while the Greyson Police, as [[KnightTemplar Templarish]] as they may be, are just following their orders.]] Cow and The Shadow [[spoiler:a.k.a. Todd]] are the only really "evil" ones, and one of them is later considered mentally insane.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Tre and the mall gang, in the first episode.

* TookALevelInBadass: Tre. The rest of the gang were pretty good [[TheCombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]] pre-Wheel, but by the time [[spoiler: he learns how to fight with Allison's help he's pretty equal to them.]]

* BrickJoke: Allison and Cale's existence.

* ArcNumber: 3. There are three episodes, three main characters (Tre, Nora and Grassy or Max, depending on who you ask), Tre's name literally means "three" in Italian, his full name is Tre[[spoiler: vor Listman]] III, he asks what the square root of 9 is to [[spoiler: Todd]] during the finale, the back cover's background is a pattern of triangles, Sal has 3 stripes down her hilt, [[spoiler: Todd]] refers to Tre as "third-rate", Tre and Nora were separated from each other for 3 years, Tre has 3 minutes and 33 seconds [[spoiler: to save himself from dying]], the Dynamo's one of 300 Challengers made during its model year with a convertible top, and [[spoiler: its miniature, electric-powered cousin seats 3.]]

* EvilTwin / EvilCounterpart: The Shadow is Tre's. Wait, is Tre the evil one and The Shadow good? According to The Shadow, yes. [[spoiler: Todd Levesque and Tre(vor) Listman are their full names. Considering that they've got the same initials, that kind of proves this point.]]

* {{Meganekko}}: Allison. Double subversion here, because she's pretty good-looking without 'em, but likes wearing them because it makes her look "different".

** It has wavering lengths. Apparently staplers can be turned into machine guns via way of a spring replacement, but fashoning a key out of a paperclip doesn't work. [[spoiler: [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Breaking through the glass window of the door]] certainly does though!]]