Sorta Like A Rock Star: 4 Stars

Sorta Like A Rock Star by Matthew Quick

Wrapping up my reading of all published Matthew Quick books, I read his YA book, Sorta Like A Rock Star. This book is all about 17-year-old Amber Appleton.  Homeless and hungry, Amber fights back by being the "Princess of Hope".  Befriending a group of misfits, teaching Korean woman English, helping a psychologically-damaged veteran,  and visiting the elderly, Amber helps out in her community in every way she possibly can. But when tragedy strike, Amber is ready to give up her positive title and give in to the all negativity.

This book actually took me a lot longer to get into than I expected.  The book is written in the voice of Amber and it uses a lot of slang and nicknames.  It was really really obnoxious.  Seeing that I work with a lot of teenagers and was once a teenage girl myself, this voice sounded nothing like a teenage girl and more like middle aged man trying to sound like a teenage girl.  Even if you can find me a teenage girl who DOES talk like this, I doubt I could handle talking to her for more than five minutes either, no matter how great her attitude. It was just really annoying.  Here's an example:

"He digs me, and he knows that Lex Pinkston needs to be kicked in the shin and slapped every so often, if only to maintain the balance of power within the student body so that evil doesn't get out of control; the boss man sees this because deep down, Prince Tony is a good man-even if he is a wimp who plays both sides of the political fence-and like Billy Budd, Prince Tony needs a Captain Vere to protect him from the evil people in the world. I fancy myself a more adroit and less dreamy, less starry Captain Vere. Captainess Appleton, at your service, Word, all you lime-suckers." 

It was just very distracting for me. Maybe I was being oversensitive, but the wording was just way too much.

Anyhow, eventually I was able to get into the story and look past the teenage slang. The story really is an excellent one that kept me reading. Amber is a great example for young kids and this is a great book for teenagers who need reminders that even at the worst times, you can make life better and have a positive outlook.

Rating: PG-13