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Book Summary

Reviewed by Matt Berman

Tom Henderson is a decent kid on the fringes of the high school from hell -- though it may, in fact, be just like most high schools. He's persistently tormented (by boys) and humiliated (by girls), and the teachers and administrators are little better. His father died years ago under mysterious circumstances, his mother is a distant self-medicator, and his stepfather a well-meaning but inane aging hippie.

Tom's only solace is his one friend, Sam, and their pastime of making up imaginary rock bands. Then he finds a set of books, including Catcher in the Rye (which everyone in the world except Tom seems to love) left by his father, which contain what may be clues both to his life and his death. Or maybe not.

Is It Any Good?

5

This debut novel by East Bay punk rocker Dr. Frank has so much going for it that it may be the literary find of the year. First, it's laugh-out-loud, still-chuckling-10-minutes-later funny, the kind of clever, sardonic, intelligent humor that will have your teens calling up their friends to read passages out loud. The humor, though, is set in high relief by the story's depth, complexity, and sophistication. There's a realism here that goes far beyond most books, either for teens or for adults. All the characters, major and minor, are more than meet the eye, the layers of their personalities don't always fit together as smoothly as they usually do in fiction. Their lives are as complex as their personalities.

Very few ends are neatly tied up, but unlike most books that try this, it isn't frustrating at all -- in fact it makes perfect sense. Interspersed with all the plot intricacies are Tom's, and the author's, musings, bits of philosophy, rants, and outsider observations, often wickedly funny and always interesting and thought-provoking. Together it all makes for a delightful read.

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