Saturday, January 9, 2010

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone


Author: Stephanie Kuehnert
Pages: 340
Published: July 2008, MTV Books
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Cover Score: B
Overall Grade: B+
Source: Publisher

Summary: Punk rock is in Emily Black's blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back. Now Emily's all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to follow the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn't it lead her right back to Emily?
My thoughts: Music is a strong aspect of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, and that's exactly what the story was: musical. With lyrical writing and poetic description of one girl's journey to her long-lost mother, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone was a gritty, edgy punk rock ballad.
I loved the strong, bold characters of the novel, particularly Emily, the protagonist. Even though at times I got a bit annoyed with her, her narration was sincere and thought-provoking. I was rooting for her the entire time.
I'm not a big fan of punk-rock music, so I wasn't sure how I could relate to this book, or how much I would like it. But the fast-paced, rhythmic storytelling pulled me in and didn't lose my focus until the ending.
Overall, an impressive debut chock-full of family, loss, love, drugs, and rock n' roll. Go, Stephanie, go!

Must-Read!! Check it out Don't Bother

4 comments:

Michelle B. said...

Thanks for the great review! :) This is one I've been wanting to check it out (even though I'm also not a huge punk-rock fan.)

Anonymous said...

I have been wanting to read this book for so long now. It sounds so great plus I'm obsessed with music. Thanks for the review. :)

April (BooksandWine) said...

Awesome review! I'm dying to read this one. I don't mind punk music at all :-) Glad to see you found this to be thought-provoking and fast paced.

Jessica B said...

I just got this one, mostly because I love all things punk rock. Thanks for the review!