Lisabeth Posthuma

What a wonderful book! At first, I was attracted to the story because I love anything that has to do with the 90s, Star Wars and anything with High Fidelity vibes. What a story blew me away. I brought this book on a trip and literally could not put it down the entire time. The story follows a guy named Joel who works at a Blockbuster-type video store. Everyone who works there has a nickname that alludes to a movie character. He’s named after hon solo and his friend is nicknamed ‘Baby’. This book is full of heart and friendship tails that any young adults or full grown adult would appreciate it. I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did (I knew I would like it but I didn’t know I would absolutely fall in love). Highly recommended!… (mer)

Joel Teague, aka Solo, is a 17 year old teen with a big secret. The secret is called What Was Wrong With Me. We know he spent some years in and out of mental hospitals because of the Bad Thing That Happened. When the story opens, Joel has been released from psychiatric care and is casting about for a way to spend his time. He gets a job at the local video store (it is 1996), where he makes a friend, something he has not had since he was 10 years old. All of the employees take favorite film character names, rather than use their own names. His friend, Nicole, is called Baby. Baby has a secret of her own, which becomes not so secret around Halloween. Baby wants Solo to share his own dirty laundry, but given that his dirty laundry is not of the regular teen problem variety, he is afraid to share. He may lose her friendship either way.

There are other stories interwoven with this one, involving abortions, homosexuality, and transgender issues. The author does a good job of fleshing out all of these characters, including Joel's parents, who are also coping with The Bad Thing That Happened. Joel's mother worries a lot about him, but she is also profoundly homophobic, and that, sadly, affects Joel's whole youth. Since this is a young adult novel, we are not examining her psychological problems, though in my mind she bears the major blame for the Bad Thing and Joel's breakdown as well.

The novel is smartly written, and moves along quickly. In fact, I couldn't put it down and finished the 400 pages in a couple of days. There are some funny lines, and some thought-provoking lines. At times, it reminded me of The Silver Linings Playbook.

Recommend to teens who like Laurie Halse Anderson, John David Hutchinson, or Nicola Yoon.… (mer)