Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Sonnenblick, Jordan. 2004. DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0-439-75519-0

Thirteen-year-old Steven Alper, drummer extraordinaire, writes in his journal about things that annoy him - journal assignments, being a skinny geek, and of course, his little brother Jeffrey while daydreaming about Renee Albert, the HOTTEST girl at school. On October 7th, Jeffrey, who likes to eat “moatmeal,” use Steven’s “special sticks” to make dangerous pie, and teases Steven incessantly about girls, gets diagnosed with leukemia which “turns everything upside down.” Drums become Steven’s escape as his family is enveloped by the overwhelming effects of cancer. To Steven, his dad is “faking human interaction,” his mother quits to work to take care of Jeffrey and becomes the target of Steven’s emotions, and yet he doesn’t see what’s right in front of his face when it comes to his friend Annette. Riding the emotional roller coaster about his brother’s cancer, Steven stops doing schoolwork, tries to keep his friends from finding out about Jeffrey, wonders when his ‘rents will notice him again, and begins to bargain with God. By graduation, Steven has been the brief star drummer in his spring jazz concert, returned to academia, and comes to understand that people aren’t always who you think they are. His greatest realization – don’t get caught up on what you can’t change, just the things you can change.

In his first novel, author Jordan Sonnenbeck skillfully and humorously deals with the ordinary traumas haunting middle schoolers like dances, infatuations and braces. He also lets his readers understand what it’s like to have a family member get diagnosed with cancer without over-dramatizing it or burdening it with extraneous details about treatments, and he artfully handles the emotions involved through italicized dialogue or Steven’s thoughts. “A story that could have morphed into melodrama is saved by reality, rawness, and the wit Sonnenblick infuses into Steven's first-person voice (Cooper 2005).” Claire Rosser concurs by writing, “Sonnenblick describes family life with great skill, and the frequently humorous anecdotes are entertaining, even when the basic story is grim. He manages to balance between horror and humor.” People handle grief and difficult situations differently, this novel would be an excellent book for discussion groups about grief or how people still navigate life while dealing with a crisis. This hilariously funny, yet heartwarming story about a teenage boy and his family in crisis is sure to be a hit with young adults.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie has received many state awards and has been included on many state and national book lists like the American Booksellers Association 2005 Book Sense Kid’s Picks, 2005 Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth list, and the 2005 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten list.

References

Cooper, Ilene. 2005. "Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie." Booklist 102, no. 2: 63. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed September 29, 2011).

Rosser, Claire. 2005. "Sonnenblick, Jordan. Drums, girls & dangerous pie." Kliatt. 39, no. 5: 15. Literature Resource Center. (accessed September 29, 2011).