Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie
by Jordan Sonnenblick
DRUMS, GIRLS & DANGEROUS PIE starts out breezily enough. Told in the sarcasm-laced voice of 13-year-old Steven, the novel describes his various adolescent trials and tribulations, all of which are familiar yet still cringe-worthy --- he has a crush on the hottest girl in school, has an angelic-looking yet demonic little brother named Jeffrey, and his parents irk and annoy him constantly. With a droll and ironic tone, teacher and first-time novelist Jordan Sonnenblick paints Steven both convincingly and with enough color to make him an amusing and compelling narrator. Readers will be ready and willing to let Steven narrate the woes of adolescence for 273 pages, without expecting anything more or less from the novel.
Steven's story takes a sharp turn, however, into potentially over-dramatic emotional ground when Jeffrey's nosebleeds turn out to be an indicator of something serious. Yet Sonnenblick handles Steven and his family's reactions to Jeffrey's diagnosis and the onslaught of his illness with an admirable balance of humor and compassion. Jeffrey's initial question to his mother after they return from the hospital in Philadelphia is, "So Mom, everything's OK right? This whole cancer mistake is sorted out?" And Sonnenblick's treatment of the different reactions of Jeffrey's parents --- Steven describes his mother as "weepy" and his father as "a zombie" --- is both nuanced and realistic. Steven has to break his parents' emotional states into simple, one-word summations, because he fears grappling with the extent of what they're going through and why; by acknowledging the complexity of their anguish, he must acknowledge the fact that his brother might die.
It takes a while for Steven to come to terms with Jeffrey's illness, and the process is rendered thoughtfully and without cliché. Reflections such as "Once I was forced to believe that Jeffrey really had cancer my mind played another big trick on me. I started to think that if I just made the right promises to God. He would magically make Jeffrey better again" and Steven's frustration with teachers who call him a "trooper" are perfect examples of the little details that make this novel so honest and real. Steven's attempt to get a handle on all the anxieties that surround the progression of his brother's illness, while trying to balance school dances, drumming solos and head-over-heels-crushes, is handled with equal candor.
Steven is not the only remarkably credible character; his parents, his teachers, his brother and even his crush, Renee, are all well-drawn and believable. The fact that this novel never relies on formulaic plotlines or stock characters is no doubt due to the author's own experience with having a family member diagnosed with cancer. Sonnenblick has an obvious desire to present the potentially melodramatic and sappy subject of cancer with frankness, never shying away from conveying the uncomfortable realities of living with someone who is sick. The result is this honest, engaging, never syrupy, and rather groundbreaking novel.
Readers who have never gone through what Steven is going through will have a newfound understanding of what it is like to --- very literally --- battle someone else's cancer. Those who have will be grateful to Sonnenblick for getting it so right.
--- Reviewed by Jennifer Krieger
Links:
Author's Site: http://www.jordansonnenblick.com/
NoveList Page: http://web.ebscohost.com.oh0248.oplin.org/novelist/detail?vid=20&hid=106&sid=73b655e0-0a9e-4aeb-8e01-55d69645e355%40sessionmgr108&bdata=JnNpdGU9bm92ZWxpc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d
Other Sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drums,_Girls,_and_Dangerous_Pie
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/tradebooks/editor/jrees_sept05.htm
Comments (1)
Archergirl said
at 7:07 pm on Feb 8, 2009
I loved this book! I think that most of us who have to read this book can easily relate to it. We all have to deal with someone youngerwho often steals some of our spotlight wither it is on purpose or not. I think that I would have died if my mother would have came to my school dance with the little brother in PJ's to get me early. I thought that it was cute when Jeffery realized that he was bald. Another kid in his class was teasing him about it and he went home and told Steven about it. He told Steven not to tell Mom and Dad because he did not want to upset them, not because others were making fun of him, but because he did not want them to know that he was bald!
Jeffery messed up a lot of things for Steven from his school dance to his big drum solo. Steven learned that sometimes, it is more important to do something for others, than to do what you have had planned and worked so hard on for a long time. It was definally a relistic book, and very relatiable. Little brothers and sisters are going to ruin your plans, but you love them anyways. And did they really ruin them after all? Steven had many new experiences and memories because of Jeffery's illness and it brought the both of them closer together.
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