Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: Leo Caraway – president of the Young Republicans club, 4.0 GPA, future Harvard student – had his entire future perfectly planned out. That was, until the X factor. As in Marion X. McMurphy, aka King Maggot, the lead singer of Purge, the most popular, most destructive band punk rock has ever seen. As in Leo’s biological father.
At first, Leo is horrified to find out his real father is punk rock’s most notorious bad boy. Not only is he not a punk rock fan, but he believes the X factor (the Maggot blood in his veins) is a dangerous time bomb just waiting to explode. And sure enough it does – when Leo stubbornly defends the unlikeliest of people, thereby getting himself falsely accused of cheating on a test.
Because of the blemish on his record, the once-star pupil finds his scholarship to Harvard taken away. So he accepts a job as a roadie with Purge’s summer revival tour, all the while secretly hoping to convince King Maggot to pay his tuition. But life on the road is even crazier than Leo bargained for, and before the summer is over, he will finally discover the surprising truth about his dad, his friends, and most important, himself. (From bn.com)
Commentary: Really great, interesting idea. I also read this one a long time ago, back during the first week of June, I believe.
It’s a Young Adult novel (I went through a period where all my younger brother’s books from the library looked fascinatingly interesting, moreso than my own, more “mature” and “developed” novels) but it reads a little better than the YA novel I reviewed in my previous entry. It might be because the novel is set in a first-persion point-of-view, with our hero Leo narrating everything he sees, hears, and feels. I tend to enjoy first-person narratives a bit more, and Leo was an entertaining and pretty mature narrator, something the author did a good job with.
Leo’s dilemma was a cool idea, and his trip is (as expected) harrowing and life-changing and all about finding yourself! All that good teenage stuff. Lots of great twists, the ending being especially shocking. The romance was fine and fun, and everything was pretty modern (internet forums and message boards are an authentically youthful touch, and relatively important to the story) and convincing in its “teenage-ness”.
Not very substantial, but quick and entertaining.
