About | Matty Weber Adventures | The Brotheration Series

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DiBarone Channels His Teenage Self for YA Series

A professional background in physics, aerospace engineering, and systems engineering influences the scientific mysteries and technology explored in BOTHERATION.

01 PHYSICS

02 AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

03 SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

BOTHERATION

4 BOOKS · PART FIVE COMING SOON

Vito DiBarone was a self-described “egghead” growing up in East Orange and Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He puts it this way: “In the summertime, our library had a contest for who could read the most books. I never won because most of what I read were technical science books.”

He received two Hardy Boys novels on his 10th birthday, and they sparked a lifelong love of mysteries. “I’m stuck in that era,” he jokes. “I’m rereading the story of Edward Stratemeyer, who owned the syndicate that hired Charles Leslie McFarlane to ghostwrite the Hardy Boys series.” (He was surprised to learn later in life that East Orange was home to the Stratemeyer Syndicate).

DiBarone created a Hardy-adjacent alter ego to front his own book series, Botheration, which now comprises two novels with a third on the way and a fourth in the works. His debut YA novel, Part One: The Missing Link, introduced 16-year-old Matty Weber, a recently orphaned high schooler who struggles with the trauma of seeing his parents perish in a car fire as well as with navigating high school’s social hierarchy after he moves to Southern California to live with his grandmother. Throw in a series of cyberterrorist attacks and you have what Kirkus Reviews praises as a “captivating blend of teen drama and techno-thriller.”

Part Two: Waves of Dinosaurs finds 17-year-old Matty coming to the rescue of a paleontology student at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, only the beginning of another adventure that takes extraordinary SF twists and turns—“Dinosaurs are only part of the story,” he teases—while further exploring Matty’s issues with trust and his unrequited crush on popular Samantha, the girl of his dreams:

“When I first met Samantha, I’d thought I would have a relationship with her…. Sometimes I wished I could be like other boys my age, playing sports, going on dates, and doing things with my dad and mom. Mom and Dad—where would I be if they were still alive? I almost had had another dad.

So what was wrong with me? I looked around but did not really look at anyone closely. I saw that the other kids had interconnections.”

Any resemblance between Matty and DiBarone when he was growing up is not necessarily a coincidence, he admits. “Growing up short, smart, and not the greatest looking card in the deck, you kind of look at life in a different way from everybody else,” he says. “It seems that everyone has all the advantages, and no matter what you do, you’re never on the winning side. But I framed Matty so that it doesn’t bother him in the same way it might have bothered me. It only bothered me when I thought about it.”

The DiBarone home, when he was growing up, contained “lots and lots of books” that entranced him, his older brother, and his younger sister. DiBarone mostly read science books: anthropology, geology, archaeology, astronomy, and paleontology. As a Catholic school student, he presented a lecture on dinosaurs when he was in the third grade. “The next day, a nun came up to me and told me, ‘There were never animals that big on Earth,’ ” he recalls with a laugh.

His love of science was further nurtured by visits to New York museums when he attended Fairleigh Dickenson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. His favorite, he says, was the Met Cloisters—the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annex, whose building is a reconstructed medieval castle.

As for writing, he “dabbled,” he says. In elementary school, he wrote stories that a friend would animate. When he was around 8 years old, he “got the notion” to create a neighborhood newspaper on index cards. “That was fun to try, but it never took off,” he says.

When DiBarone was a college sophomore, he took a class in English composition. He was a physics major, which earned him the enmity of his English comp professor. “That teacher hated Physics majors,” he says with a laugh. He remembers one assignment vividly: a how-to 3,000-word essay. “I wrote how to open a door,” he reports. “I actually analyzed where you should put your feet, which arm you should use to keep your head from getting hit by the door. [The professor] gave me an F. He said, ‘Nobody wants to know how to open a door.’ His message to me was, ‘You’re really smart, but you’re really stupid.’ ”

More encouraging was a public speaking class. His teacher was Martin Roth, a screenwriter on My Favorite Martian, a sitcom starring Ray Walston as a Martian who is stranded on Earth. The two bonded over comedy. But it was a creative writing course that stoked his imagination to write Botheration. He enjoys the writing process: “Coming up with a setting and the characters and then letting them do what they do puts me in a dreamlike state.”

“Write what you know,” the maxim goes. The setting for Waves of Dinosaurs was inspired by a bucket-list trip DiBarone took to Dinosaur National Monument. But originally, Botheration’s protagonist was a Samantha-like character, a calculated strategy based on DiBarone’s research that women buy the most books. “I thought that if I wanted to be successful, I had to write to them,” DiBarone says.

One publisher encouraged him to rewrite his lead character as a boy. “The more I thought about it,” he says, “the more I realized that Matty was me when I was 12 years old.”

DiBarone had his own Samantha, who remains a good friend. She is married and has a family, he reports. “She was a sounding board for a lot of the chapters. I just gave her copies of the second book.”

Botheration was originally conceived as a trilogy, but DiBarone has a fourth book in mind. “Matty has interests going on in his world that can occupy other stories,” he says. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a signpost for him. The third volume will find Matty in college. The fourth will see him return to that school as a teacher.

While his stories have adventure and SF elements, they deal with universal adolescent issues such as friendship, first love, and bullying. “I want to share with readers that they are not alone,” DiBarone says. “We all have the same problems.”

Donald Liebenson is a Chicago-based writer.

About The Book

After he witnesses a fiery car crash kill both his parents, Matthew “Matty” Weber is sent to live with his Grandma Debbie. Four years later, now sixteen, Matty swears to stop hiding behind his introverted behavior and forces himself to become socially and emotionally normal. He has a rough start when he mistakenly sits down at the lunch table of the high school’s elite.

That day, he meets Samantha, the girl of his dreams, but also Mark, captain of the football team and general jerk. Even though Matty miraculously avoids getting beat up, his next hurdle is to ace the State Standardized School Tests. A worldwide cyber-attack quickly ends the examination.

With academics on hold, Matty decides to approach Samantha but finds her an emotional mess. She seems scared and asks for his help and trust. Shockingly, Mark confronts him and asks for the same. Now, two socially backward high school students, Matty and his best friend Gabriel, set out to find a solution to the unusual requests from the popular crowd. They must fight against cyber terrorism, but can a worldwide event really be stopped by two teens?

Start with Book One

Welcome to the World of Botheration

A Quick Guide to Matty's Family and Friends

Matty Weber

Seventeen years old, five feet four inches tall, and considerably more comfortable solving scientific mysteries than navigating relationships. Matty has an extraordinary curiosity about science, history, fossils, and the way the universe works. Behind his intelligence and sometimes awkward sense of humor is a young man still learning to cope with a traumatic past. His greatest challenge, however, may be learning whom to trust.

Tippi Carter

Samantha's cousin, a talented singer, accomplished polyglot, and exceptional gymnast whose abilities once placed her on a path toward Olympic-level competition. An honor student who attended a specialized school in Virginia, Tippi has faced difficult family circumstances, including the disgrace and eventual exoneration of her father. Intelligent, playful, and remarkably perceptive, with her distinctive braided pigtails, she has an unusual ability to notice what others overlook. Her growing friendship with Matty introduces feelings neither completely understands.

Grandma Jean Kelley

Matty's paternal grandmother and the mother of Lucious R. Kelley. Knowledgeable, analytical, and sometimes mysterious, Grandma Jean possesses a remarkable understanding of science, technology, and human behavior. She approaches difficult questions with the precision of a scientist, although her answers sometimes leave Matty with more questions than he started with.

Severino Weber (Not pictured)

Matty's stepfather, who also works in advanced government research. He influenced some of Matty's early life choices, and their relationship has been shaped by family secrets and events from the earlier adventures.

Gabriel Mason

Matty's six-foot-tall, slender best friend since they were about twelve. An above-average student, enthusiastic golfer, technology lover, and fiercely loyal companion, Gabriel stood by Matty during some of the most difficult moments of his recovery from childhood trauma. Their friendship has been tested by extraordinary adventures, but Gabriel remains one of the few people who truly understands Matty—and knows when to make him laugh.

Chloe Phillips Kelley

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Lucious R. Kelley (Not pictured)

Matty's biological father, a teacher with a scientific mind and a complicated family history. His desire to reconnect with Matty is complicated by years of separation and unanswered questions. He has not always been present in Matty's life, but his influence may be greater than Matty realizes.

Ricky Right and Mark Paige

Two of Scotsbourgh High School's most accomplished athletes. Mark, eighteen and six feet five inches tall, is an imposing figure. Ricky, sixteen and six feet four inches tall, is leaner but no less competitive. Both have earned varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball. Their humor, competitiveness, and occasional questionable decisions frequently complicate an already complicated situation. Their friendship with Matty is sometimes unexpected, occasionally chaotic, and rarely boring. But when circumstances become serious, they may prove more useful than expected.

Samantha Carter

Seventeen years old and Matty's first love. Beautiful, intelligent, and blessed with long hair and a smile that can brighten almost any room, Samantha is a talented cheerleader and accomplished pageant contestant. Her natural warmth and compassion make people feel welcome, and she possesses the caring instincts of a nurse. Like many teenage girls finding their independence, Samantha doesn't always see eye to eye with her mother. She and Matty have shared extraordinary adventures, and although their relationship has changed, their history remains important to them both.

Grandma Debbie Malone

Matty's loving, practical, and perceptive maternal grandmother. She has helped guide him through extraordinary situations, often with a puzzle, a gentle observation, or a reminder that answers are not always what they first appear to be. Her wisdom comes not only from what she knows, but from her understanding of people and the importance of human relationships.

Madelyn Malone Weber (Not pictured)

Matty's mother, whose career in advanced government research has sometimes complicated her relationship with her son. Their family history contains unanswered questions, and the choices she has made continue to influence Matty's life.

Aisha Jackson

Fifteen years old, light-skinned African American, intelligent, confident, and an aspiring cheerleader, Aisha is part of Matty's extended circle of friends. Her father, a wealthy and influential businessman, owns and operates the local newspaper. Aisha also has a four-seat Cessna 172 airplane and knows how to fly it, a skill that has already proven useful during Matty's earlier adventures. Independent and resourceful, she is not easily impressed by popularity, authority, or explanations that don't make sense.