A Visit from the Goon Squad

by Jennifer Egan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, c. 2010, 274 pages. ISBN 978-0-307-59283-5

The chapters of the Goon Squad are made up of intertwining stories and characters that snake through the lives of Bennie Salazar, former punk rocker and aging music producer, and his assistant Sasha, a mucked up young woman with kleptomania impulses. Stories are told at different times in the characters lives and the book spans decades even to a dystopian future as Egan delves into a touch of science fiction.

This is a captivating book and Egan's voice is both prophetic and subversive. If you ever wonder what happened to the life you imagined for yourself in your youth, only to realize that you grew up, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a book to read.

tales of the MADMAN underground: an historical romance 1973

by John Barnes. New York: Viking. c. 2009. 532 pages.
ISBN 978-0-670-06081-8

Karl Shoemaker has decided to turn over a new leaf at the start of his senior year, 1973. He is going to be normal. The first step is to avoid therapy. Not so easy when your dad is dead, your mom is a drunk who steals your money (the money you make from working five jobs!), you're in AA and you and all of your friends are self-proclaimed "madmen."

Set in a small, depressed town in Ohio, Barnes' book spans six days in the life of Karl Shoemaker. Told in the first person, this book is so honest, sad and hilarious that teen readers will tear through these 500 plus pages.

2010 Printz Honor Book, 2010 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

Liked it? Try Benjamin Alire Saenz's Last Night I Sang to the Monster: a novel, Julie Anne Peters' Between Mom and Jo, Jaye Murray's Bottled Up: a novel, Blake Nelson's Paranoid Park.