With all the recent books about Serious Topics, Worldly Issues, and Warrior Princesses so hardcore they'd make Katniss Everdeen (of Hunger Games fame) shudder with fear, sometimes you just need a book that's nothing but FUN!
This book is How I Paid for College, by Marc Acito.
Flashback to 1983. Edward Zanni and his BFF Paula are getting ready to celebrate their last summer before college. And they plan to have plenty of mischief and mayhem while doing so. This pretty much means hanging out at Aunt Glo's pool, putting the neighbor's ginormous Green Buddha statue in compromising positions, and sneaking into the local piano bar to sing showtunes. And once summer is done, Edward, a lifelong theater kid, is looking forward to attending the holy grail of performing arts colleges: Julliard.
That is, until Edward's father pulls the plug on his dreams, refusing to fork over thousands per semester for what, he thinks, is sure to be a useless degree that will have his only son working low-paying, dead-end jobs for the rest of his life. Like, here's a helping of Harsh Reality... Do you want fries with that? Edward's pretty sure his new (evil) stepmother has everything to do with this. After all, Dadd-o didn't have a problem with Edward's school of choice before he tied the noose...I mean, knot.
So Edward decides he will pay his own tuition. But when the old fashioned way (um, a job) isn't working fast enough, Edward and friends hatch the Plan of All Plans. One that includes embezzlement, forgery, blackmail, and the impersonation of priests and nuns. There's plenty of cringe-worthy moments, hilarity, and hijinks along the way. And one of the most satisfying (if convoluted) endings I've ever read.
Fans of Becky Albertalli's Simon vs The Homo-Sapiens Agenda and Play Me Backward by Adam Selzer will love this one!
--AJB
No comments:
Post a Comment