Castration Celebration

May 18, 2009
It’s summertime and hormones are raging for the high school students at Yale University’s camp for the arts. Olivia arrives with pentup anger over walking in on her dad cheating on her mom with a student, and is determined to write about it. Though Olivia has instituted a personal “boy boycott,” when dashing Max develops an immediate crush on her, her skepticism fuels her writing. Her musical, a reworking of Much Ado About Nothing
, mirrors Olivia and Max’s own ups and downs and features many libidinous musical numbers (“Threesome, threesome, threesome/ How can I get me some?/ ... The things we will be doing/ Like the pornos I’ve been viewing”). The characters’ actual dialogue is equally sex-drenched—the American Pie
crowd will love it—though the relentless and explicit banter can be exhausting. With a skeevy reinterpretation of Pat the Bunny
and a crudely funny song about Bella Swan likely to draw the ire of Twilighters, Wizner’s (Spanking Shakespeare
) sophomore novel may reach new heights—or, possibly, depths—of notoriety. Ages 14–up.

April 1, 2009
Gr 9 Up-Max is stoked to be attending Yale's arts program, but his near-disastrous run-in with Olivia leaves him wondering about his romantic prospects there. Olivia's sworn off guys for the summer, and she's working on "Castration Celebration", a musical about a sweet girl wronged by her lust-driven boyfriend. The two spar throughout the program, with Max accepting Olivia's elaborate challenges to prove his dedication to her. After a quick road trip and an all-night discussion, the pair finally accept their attraction to one another and nearly achieve a happy ending. It's no surprise that hormones drive this plot, and Max's attempts to win Olivia's affections are perfectly pulled from contemporary date movies. Pop references collide with gross-out humor as Max creates a song featuring "Twilight"'s Bella and music by U2 that will have teens groaning and laughing. Olivia's writing feels stilted, an odd blend of small-town nostalgia and urban edginess, and the characters, both in the musical and in the narrative, lack diverse voices. Max enjoys the odd joint, and his drug use does have consequences. Teens will enjoy the plentiful laughs and the authentic friendship that Max develops with Zeke, his roommate. Lighthearted and humorous, this novel will appeal to older readers."Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2009
Grades 11-1 Less creative and more crude than Wizners Spanking Shakespeare (2007), this envelope-pusher follows a raunchy group of teens through a summer at a Yale arts camp. Disappointed by the males in her life and fascinated by the concept of castration, Olivia creates the books titular musical as her project, drawing inspiration from her fellow campers over-the-top discussions and exploits. Most chapters end with a scene from Olivias work-in-progress, including the often quite clever (and graphic) lyrics to songs, such as Horny and Im in Love with Dick. References to sex in all its forms and the lack of restraint on foul language willcertainly shock some readers (particularly adults). Wizner skewers everything from classic childrens books (Pat the Bunny isreinterpreted from a very Freudian perspective) to High School Musical (clearly satirized on the books cover), and many older teens will appreciate the wild humor and the no-holds-barred look at what undoubtedly does happen at some summer camps.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)