Stoner & Spaz Paperback – August 9, 2011

Ron Koertge really made me care about Ben. Interesting perspective, great insight. Sweet main character.

Stoner & Spaz takes some surprising turns in a genre that too often relies on heavy-handed cliches to make a point. Teen drug literature often relies on stock characters (the abusive father, the defiant teen, the street kid, the clueless adult) and standard plot mechanisms (teen led astray by evil peers, teen tricked into trying drugs then swiftly becoming an addict) to drive home the point that drugs are bad. This book breaks through the stereotypes beginning with the narrator, Ben, a 16 year old boy with cerebral palsy who is remarkably intelligent, sensitive and self-aware, although something of a social misfit because of his self-consciousness about his condition. He is being raised by his wealthy, conservative, proper grandmother following the suicide of his father and the abandonment by his mother. The grandmother's character too is nicely drawn; although she is strict and conservative, she is also understanding and shrewd. In fact, this is perhaps the most refreshing thing about this book- it does not pit the adults against the teens. Decent, funny and cool adults share equal time with the younger characters and give more dimension than is usually found in this type of book.The drugged out girl, Colleen (the "stoner") is on a fast track to disaster, flirting with bad company, marijuana, cocaine and cynicism. But she has a sense of humor and an unflinching way of dealing openly with Ben's condition that ultimately rescues him from the isolation with which he has surrounded himself. Although Colleen has a bad reputation because of her drug habits and her promiscuity, she brings a certain notoriety and cachet to Ben that he's never experienced- suddenly, the other kids are interested in him. An understanding adult opens a creative channel for him to explore this new world, and, in the course of this short novel, he learns much about himself, his peers and growing up.The story is fast-paced, quick reading, and delivers the right message without being sanctimonious. It is very refreshing to have a main character with cerebral palsy who deals so openly with his condition and how it impacts his daily existence. The bits about everyday events such as getting dressed or climbing in a car are descriptive without being self-pitying or bathetic. Also surprising but refreshing is that Ben's brief marijuana experimentation does not lead to the usual drug addiction and death. The issues in this book are leavened with humor, compassion and hope- all of which are refreshing (and rare) in this genre.

As someone with Cerebral Palsy, I am always interested in literary fiction that features a character with CP. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark.First, the book description makes it seem as though this is a stand-alone book (Yes, I am aware there is a second book that has been published which I am guessing continues the story). But it’s incomplete and reads like the first part of a larger novel rather than a stand-alone.Second, the characters are pretty far out there, especially Colleen. How is this girl functioning the way that she is and no other adult but Ben’s grandma sees a problem?! There is also very little substance in the relationships between the characters and the dynamic that is there is extremely stereotypical.I think this story has a lot of potential, but needs to be reworked to truly be successful.

Relatively early on in my career as a "children's" bookbuyer I had the great fortune to participate in a day-long workshop discussing "teen" literature. The experts from whom I was to learn that day were Michael Cart and Richard Jackson. Between them, they made several points that have stuck with me as I define and evaluate young adult literature. Among the words of wisdom that day were:Adolescents create and re-create themselves on a daily basis as they search for their identity. Good teen literature frequently provides characters whose roles teen readers can try on vicariously as if they were cloaks. Good teen literature frequently poses more questions than it provides answers.That day's presentations were the inspiration for my creating a separate young adult section--after a week of quoting the experts I was given the okay to purchase and shelve those books away from the kids' stuff, in the process becoming the "children's and young adult" buyer. This division, of course, is the rule rather than the exception in bookstores and libraries today.STONER AND SPAZ, set in LA, is the latest, perfect example of what young adult fiction is all about.In addition, STONER AND SPAZ is a book that pays homage to film the way SEEK does to radio.Ben (Spaz) Bancroft, a teen "cinefile" whose aloofness is the result of his self-consciousness over his dragging an arm and a leg due to cerebral palsy, tells us the story of his entanglement with Colleen (Stoner) Minou, who is as engaging, witty, and tough as Mona Lisa Vito, Marisa Tomei's character in My Cousin Vinnie. Colleen's boyfriend, Ed, is studying to be a drug lord. Early on, as Ben waits to hand over the report on THE GREAT GATSBY for which Colleen has hit him up, he gives us a look at Ed in action:"Waiting there I feel, I don't know anthropological, I guess. I just need a pair of binoculars and a field guide to watch Ed Dorn in his black jeans and black T-shirt make the rounds, moving from the gangstas in their huge pants through the Mexican tough guys and into the Asian kung-fu fighters. Each clique has a different handshake, and Ed knows them all. He knows which girl's hand to grab and rub over his shaved head, which brother to joke with, which guy's Pepsi to snatch and take a sip of, which one to lean into and whisper. Colleen walks a few steps behind. She wears knee-high silver boots and looks like someone from a different galaxy."When Colleen catches up with Ben, he mentions to her:"'I was watching Ed in action. He's like Louis the Fourteenth,' I said, 'moving through the gardens at Versailles dispensing favors.'""'Louis better watch his ass,' says Colleen. 'This is Ed's turf.'"Ben has been raised by his grandmother, who dresses him in prep garb and who meets Colleen when she invites herself for a ride home in Grandma's Cadillac and then endears herself to Grandma by immediately puking out the window. Ben has never given Grandma a bit of trouble before. She cannot understand his growing involvement with Colleen:"'What is it exactly that you see in her? Besides the narcotics, she's so profane and...' She thinks for a few seconds. "So badly decorated.'"What Ben sees in Colleen is that she treats his condition so honestly and matter-of-factly. In turn, he makes her feel like a high school kid, which is in such contrast to the scary world of drugs, clubs, and thugs in which she's immersed. And while this is a uniquely descriptive and extremely fun story, it is no fairy tale. When it's over we're left heavy on the side of unanswered questions. I was also left with a profound sadness for having to end my relationship with two characters I came so quickly to like and care so much about--Stoner and Spaz. ...

It was decent. It had a couple really funny and witty moments, but I was mostly left wondering when it would get better or have a climax..

I have a weakness for people who are a little messed up in the head, and I guess the same goes for characters, because Ben and Colleen are my kind of people. This was SO GOOD, and made be wonder-- why aren't there more books about people with disabilities? I think this might be the first one I've ever read, and that seems crazy.

Das Buch ist jeden cent seines Kindlepreises wert und wird sofort in meine 100-Bestenliste in den vorderen Rängen aufgenommen. Es ist für Jugendliche geschrieben, aber jeder hat daran seinen Spaß - das Buch ist cool, ergreifend, realistisch, geht unter die Haut, hat einen knochentrockenen Humor und nie langweilig. Allenfalls ein bischen zu kurz und etwas vorhersehbar, aber als Jugendbuch konzipiert, ist das ok und verzeihlich. Zumal es schon vor einem Jahrzent erschienen ist und es dankenswerter Weise den Nachfolger gibt. Leider viel zu spät und noch sehr teuer, aber ich werde auch diesen kaufen.Inhalt:Ben - Spaz - lebt mit seiner Großmutter zusammen, ist halbseitig spastisch gelähmt (CP) und geht zur High school. Er ist ein Outsider aufgrund seine Selbstzweifel bedingt durch die alltäglichen Hindernisse, die die Spastik ihn erleben und überwinden läßt, lebt und analysiert Kino, sein Vater ist tod, seine Mutter davon gelaufen. Stoner - Colleen - ist ständig high, hart, verhungert, lebt mit einer völlig unfähigen, überforderten alleinerziehenden Mutter zusammen, die sich wenig für die Tochter, umso mehr um ihr Aussehen kümmert, probiert jede Droge aus, um high sein zukönnen, damit es die "Kannten im Alltag rundet" und kommt durch die High school mit Noten durch pure Anwesenheit. Ihr Freund Ed probiert sich als Drogenkönig und Stoner kauft, schmuggelt und konsumiert - bleibt schließlich an der Drogenquelle kleben, weil es mühevoll ist, sich davon zu bewegen. Stoner und Spaz kennen sich zwar vom Sehen in der Schule, lernen sich aber erst im Kino kennen. Für sie ist Ben das Normale, andere für ihn ist sie, alles das, was er nicht dachte, je zu haben - körperliche Berührung, jemand der nicht seinen Körper sieht, sondern den Jungen dahinter. Nüchtern, klar, hart mit sich selbst, gehen beide um und es kreiert sich ein Buch, daß mich bewegt, amüsiert und anstrengt.Kaufen!