Young Adult Literature without Apology

Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.

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Portman, Frank (2006). King Dork. NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 0385732910. 352 pages.

I have to admit it: I was reluctant to read this novel and even more averse to enjoying it. Turns out, I was pleasantly (perhaps even joyously) surprised. Before I wax poetic, let me list the things that made this novel a near pass for me: (1) It's a first novel by Frank Portman, one of the members of The Mr. T Experience, which I thought meant it was going to be full of "I'm-super-cool-but-I'm-not-a-poser" justification prose, (2) I knew the book was going to involve music to some degree and, being familiar with the genus indie-rockus, I assumed that reading the novel would be like listening to some loser ramble on about his record collection, and (3) the readers on the YALSA-bk discussion list mentioned the "graphic" sexual nature of the tome and, knowing how my opinions about sexual content in YA novels differs from the average YALSA-bker, was sure King Dork would be somewhat of a cock tease.

All right, all right: I was wrong on all accounts. With sardonic humor, narrator Tom Henderson describes life as one of his high school's undesirables, criticizing the school, teachers and students who aspire to the cult of Holden Caufield (aka lovers of The Catcher in the Rye), and trying in some way to realize the dream of a rock and roll outfit featuring Tom and his best friend Sam. Two plots seem to compete for attention: the first involves a mystery of sorts and is associated with the earlier death of Tom's father, the second is a series of mysteries involving what seems to be a nonexistent girl Tom claims to have kissed at a party, the sudden unorthodox association of Tom's friend Sam with the school drama kids and the friends' bid for a slot in the school's talent show. Yes, the pace is, to use School Library Journal's terminology, "leisurely"; however, the story is funny in way I haven't seen since C.D. Payne's hilarious Youth In Revolt. Color me converted; this books kicks the ass out of my assumptions.