Oh no.. he read the book alright... Just turned one aspect of it into a Movie, the one that would actually make a good movie and Sell...
The book is from 1959, and ... is in many ways ...difficult to place...
I've always felt that most of it was because it was cast by the publisher as a Young...
Wut.... The pregnancy, other Relationships, and the way her looks change over the last chapters weren't enough Hints for you?
Honestly.. some people need even the letters spelled out to them separately, and very , very slowly.... After the explanation what letters are..
Because it has been set up as a plot device to get the whole Bullies and Unfair Authorities trope going?
There isn't any logical reason, other than a handy peg to hang shounen revenge-porn "plot" on.
And here we have a glimpse of the Drama Llama in its natural habitat....
Honestly.... what the hell is this?
Musclebrain battlejunkies and suicidal depresso's....
ummm... All the names, at least all the important ones, are german... Löwe = Lion.
Most are quite clever puns describing the actual personality of the character, not merely the usual german-ish babble.
You just know MC will Wimp Out, up to and including letting his friends get severely hurt.
Because of his obsession with "Not Standing Out" and "Just Wanting a Peaceful Life".
Even though we've clearly passed the point of no return, and it has been confirmed without a doubt they are out to get...
Even then... Even as the presumed son of...
You have a special delegation of Special Kids staying over at your city on their way to a very major event.
There's no way the arrangements for that wouldn't have put the local authorities on High Alert. There's also no way in all hells anyone in that...
Blah, prolongued blah.
MC could easily have figured out who's in charge, dropped a bit of the act, and put the fear of ..Him... in them, stressing the point that he is willing to stay quite civil, but that there is a limit to fucking around before Finding Out happens.
He very much has the power...