Blast from the past: Eddie and the Cruisers

There haven't been very many good novels about popular music. It could be due to the inherent contradictory nature of writing in concrete terms about something so ephemeral, even when the writers are also musicians. Music is such an individual experience that it can be daunting to find the absolutes in it.

P.F. Kluge got it right in his 1980 novel Eddie and the Cruisers. Yes, it's the source for the 1983 cult film, and it's set in a time when music came pressed into the grooves on big plastic discs, but forget that for a moment. What Kluge does is something harder, and deeper, than the film's mere missing-album mystery, and it's something that people of any age who are passionate about music will understand. Kluge shows us the limits of the music, and how real talent sees it and pushes past it. He demonstrates where Leaves of Grass and "Hound Dog" coincide.

So Punk Rock (And Other ways to Disappoint Your Mother) -- Micol Ostow, with art by David Ostow

Ari Abramson has a dream. And that dream is to be a rock star.

Now all he needs is a band with the ability to play some songs. And fans. (One fan in particular, really. When Sari Horowitz signs on to IM, Ari suffers fourteen heart attacks and multiple mental meltdowns just THINKING about how to begin a conversation with her.) Oh, and he needs for his parents not to find out -- they want him to focus on getting early admission to Brandeis. Where -- even if he wanted to think about college right now (which he doesn't, as it's two years away) -- he doesn't want to go.

But the band actually comes together, and with Jonas (activities: basketball, being a bad-a** pimp), Yossi (activities: study of rabbinical interpretations of scripture), and an uninvited-yet-turns-out-to-be-awesome back-up singer, Ari forms The Tribe. And they enjoy surprisingly quick rise to stardom -- especially at Leo R. Gittleman Jewish Day School.

That's when egos begin to get inflated. And the romance he's been dreaming of... doesn't go exactly the way he'd planned. And while his dream has technically been fulfilled, he is faced with more problems than he had when he was just dreaming.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
"One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical."- summary from Amazon

I have been anticipating this book for a long time and was so excited to get an early look at it. I love David Levithan's work and while I've only read one thing from John Green (his story in Let It Snow), I love his vlogs and sense of humor, so the two of them together was like Awesomeness squared. The novel did not disappoint or, well, at least not much.

What I thought was funny was that I switched which Will Grayson I wanted to read most a little ways in. The chapters alternate between each one, and they have their own distinct style and voice. WG1 is (I think) John Green's, and WG2 is (I think) David Levithan's; the two are easily distinguished by the fact that WG2 does not use caps (not even at beginning of sentences), except for like one or two instances, and the story for those is written almost like a screenplay. I originally wanted to read WG2 most as he was gay and I'm naturally drawn to that (being a gay man myself), but he was too emo for my tastes and I was really put off by him after the first chapter so I went with WG1. But then I switched back around halfway through.

I loved the character of Tiny and kinda wish there was a book written from his perspective. He's such a larger-than-life character and is the one character that is present in both stories after the two Wills meet. The concept of them meeting is interesting and I was wanting to see how it would all play out. The story has got a lot of humor, heart, and revelations that make you think about your own life and how you live it.

I was not a big fan of the ending because it felt abrupt to me. If the acknowledgements had not been right on the next page, I would've thought they had failed to print the rest of the story since there were several blank pages after that. There were a lot of threads left undone (and one that started on the second-to-last page- WHO DOES THAT?!), but not enough for a full novel (I don't think). I feel like several characters were just left hanging and I'm left wondering what's going to happen to them. So someone please tell me there will be a sequel or something in the future.

Overall though, it is a very good book and a compelling read that's hard to put down. Also, the musical mentioned in the summary is FABULOUS and the lyrics to some of the songs are just hilarious. Those are worth the price alone!

Henry IV: Youth in Revolt

Shakespeare is awful. Rather, the manner in which most students first explore his work is awful. Trying to force some exposure to canonical great works onto students before the chance is gone, the endeavor all too often falls into a mind-numbing series of translation exercises. Now that we’ve read the scene, can anyone explain what’s happened?

I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest the plays should be read in the modern vernacular, as classes now tackle Beowulf, but in order to capture what’s rewarding about Shakespeare, readers have to be able to engage with the substance of the work in ways meaningful to their lives. Macbeth and Julius Caesar are masterfully written political thrillers, rife with some of the language’s most beautiful poetry, raising questions about the nature and dangers of power. But what in them speaks to the experience of a sixteen year-old?

After Ever After

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

At the age of five, Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia - lymphocytic lymphoma, to be specific. He was a lucky little boy: His parents and 13-year-old brother, Steven, were there for him every step of the way, and the community rallied around him. He was a lucky little boy: He survived.

Years later, Jeffrey's in remission, but reminded of his illness every day, thanks to the limp and other irrevocable marks left on his body and his mind by the cancer. Radiation and chemotherapy left him "a little scrambled up," making him "spacey" on occasion. Now in eighth grade, he instantly bonds with a new classmate, a girl who just moved to New Jersey from California. The second Jeffrey meets Lindsey, he knows she's his dream girl. Dealing with middle school (and trying to impress female classmates) is hard enough without having physical impairments, but Jeffrey has an unsinkable spirit. His best friend, Tad, also a cancer survivor, is less upbeat about his condition. The two boys have leaned on each other both in and outside of school since the fourth grade. Now, their last year in middle school will test their strength - physical strength, mental strength, and strength of character - over and over again.

After Ever After will make readers laugh and cry and feel. It will be a delight to fans of Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie, the book that introduced us to the Alper family, a book that I read, loved, and hand-sold like crazy the year of its release, and have continued to recommend ever since. After Ever After is a solid stand-alone story, so those who came upon After without having read Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie won't be lost, but they would be wise to read the equally-fabulous Drums to see how the story began. Instead of picking up the story right where Pie left off, Sonnenblick opted to fast-forward After Ever After to Jeffrey's eighth grade year and make him the first-person narrator instead of Steven, who was the protagonist of the previous story. Readers catch up with Jeffrey quickly, learning not only of his medical history and current health status but also of his elementary and middle school experiences. Likewise, we are informed of Steven's whereabouts - something I won't give away here, something that was another bold choice on Sonnenblick's part which ensured that this story was now solidly Jeffrey's - and what a great story it is.

"I can't walk too well, but when I'm on my bike, I can fly."

Go, Jeffrey, go.

Morpheus Road:The Light by D.J. MacHale

This month I have a guest reviewer. It’s Max, my 12-year-old son, who was thrilled to see a new book by D.J. MacHale.

I believe in ghosts.

That’s the first sentence of D.J. MacHale’s riveting fantasy novel, Morpheus Road: The Light. It’s taken some convincing, but after I read the book, I’m starting to believe it too.

Marshall Seaver is expected to have the time of his life, home alone while his dad is on a business trip in Las Vegas. This 16 year-old, finds this out in ways that he never expected. The knocks on his bedroom wall, the signs he sees formed in spilled cat food. He feels these are all messages; signs that someone is in his house.

From Recession to the Stars: Childhood's End

It's hard to be optimistic about humanity these days, isn't it? People aren't working, banks are going out of business, governments are mired in intractable ideologies. We've discovered that human space travel is all but impossible thanks to cosmic radiation, exorbitant fuel requirements, and the impenetrable barrier of light speed. We've seen no evidence of intelligent life in the cosmos, and God knows there's little enough evidence of intelligence life here on Earth, either. The signs are mounting that our environment is changing in ways we cannot predict: deforestation, species loss, mutating diseases...the list goes on and on.

Of course, there's always the long view. After all, just a few thousand years ago, we were living in caves and eating carrion, weren't we? We've come much farther than you might expect (some more than others).

Arthur C. Clarke's novel Childhood's End is all about the long view of humanity--the VERY long view from our present difficult days to an almost miraculous ascension to our higher destiny in the distant future. It's a book full of wonder and possibility, a veritable mission statement for science fiction as the literature of amazement and hope.

Horror Movie Guy talks books -- from Lovecraft to Judy Blume

Matt Cunningham is a Hollywood screenwriter, SFX artist and director. He worked on special effects for Starship Troopers, wrote and directed "The Mangler Reborn" and even played "chainsaw victim" in "Decampitated." (More on IMDB.)

But now he's transitioning into writing books for young readers, including a moody monster book called "Eternal Springs." He interviewed me about a project, so I jumped at the chance to interview him, too, mostly about books...

When you were in high school or college and people started talking books, what would you tell them they just had to read?

As a guy you can imagine the looks I got from other boys in high school spreading the word of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary and Katherine Paterson. Bridge to Terabithia is one of my all time favorite books. That one I tell everyone to read, if they haven't already. Of course C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and in the darker days, Lovecraft and King.

Today, what books would you tell guys that age they should read?

I am a book junkie (my wife can attest to this) and I could ramble on for days about what to read. So I will go with some of the most recent books that I love. Monster Blood Tattoo by D.M. Cornish. This one really grabbed me and has lots of great mystical aspects to it. Percy Jackson books, sooo good. Thanks Rick Riordan for those goodies. Spiderwick Chronicles, I love these books. I gobble them up. This really fun series of books called Secrets of Dripping Fang by Dan Greenburg. I just get a kick out of them. Lots of boogery fun. For comedy and good times check out I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be Your Class President by Josh Lieb, I was laughing out loud at this one.

And what books should they avoid?

Twilight - seriously, spend your time reading Bram Stoker or Mary Shelly. This onslaught of vampire novels is nauseating. Every book on the shelf looks like a vampire novel. I like vamps, but give me something that hasn't been done in Buffy. Buffy rules by the way.

Were there any particular books that got you moving on the road to SFX and movie work?

Swords... Sorcery... those were all you needed!

Back in the day, sword and sorcery was a huge genre. Forget hobbits. Forget Hogwarts. We're talking blades that slashed thugs and thieves in the dead of night and magic so sinister that no one in the right man dared practice it. Blame two of the best characters ever invented in fantasy--I'm talking Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Where to begin the adventure? A book called Swords and Deviltry.

Survivors of the Zombie War

From the first outbreak of infection to "Victory in China" day about a decade later, over 600 million people lost their lives. Although the zombie war (which "goes by many names: 'The Crisis,' 'The Dark Years,' 'The Walking Plague,' as well as newer and more 'hip' titles such as 'World War Z' or 'Z War One'") is over, people, and countries, are still trying to recover, and the world has irrevocably changed.

There is value in the official report of the United Nation's Postwar Commission, "a collection of cold, hard data, an objective 'after-action report' that would allow future generations to study the events of that apocalyptic decade." But the stories of the survivors, military and civilian, those who profited from the war and those who are still bearing its scars, are too important to lose. The stories of some of these survivors have been transcribed and collected in Max Brooks’ World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.