Teaser: Do you remember wanting to leave your hometown so badly after graduation? Imagine if that did not happen. Arty Flood doesn't leave as fast as he wants, but he learns a lot along the way.
Plot Summary: In the beginning of the book Arty Flood wants nothing more than to leave his boring hometown after high school graduation. Arty is having an affair with his art teacher and is being forced to date the sheriff's daughter and his parents own a funeral parlor and he wants the high score on Ms. Pac Man. With all that going on he meets the girl of his dreams two weeks before graduation and they start a relationship. She shakes up his plans and he has to think harder about the decisions he is making in his life. Be prepared for an unexpected ending.
Critical Evaluation: The book is written from the male teenage perspective, which is a welcome change from a lot of books written today from a female standpoint. The book has hilarious and awkward moments, but that is what teens will be able to relate too, because they are going through the same emotional roller coaster. The book looks at small town America in the late 1980s and gives the reader a sense of coming of age.
Author Information: According to the author's website, http://www.richarduhlig.com/, Richard was born in Herington, Kansas in 1970. He grew up in a small town and his father was a doctor and his mother ran the doctor office. He has always had an active imagination and after seeing "Raiders of the Lost Ark" he knew he wanted to become a movie director. So after high school he moved to LA to pursue his dream. It did not work out and 6 months later he was back home. He then enrolled in a local college and eventually went to film school at NYU. He also went to AFI in LA and wrote a few screenplays. His wife encouraged him to write a novel because it would give him more freedom to write what he wanted. His first novel, Last Dance at the Frosty Queen, is loosely based on his own life growing up in a small town and wanting freedom.
Genre: Coming of Age/ Realistic Fiction
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Good book for reluctant readers to read, especially boys. Have them talk about how relationships have affected how they feel about what they are doing in their life. How have relationships influenced their decisions.
Reading Level/Interest Age: 16+
Challenge Issues: Teen sex and language. If this book was challenged I would go to, ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why included? I am from a small town, so I could relate to that part of the book and it is a great coming of age story. I also liked the fact that is was written from the viewpoint of a teenage male.
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