All Together Now (previously published as Sorta Like a Rock Star)

May 17, 2010
Quick's (The Silver Linings Playbook) first book for teenagers is a searing story of redemption. Exuberant Amber, her dog, and her alcoholic mother live on the school bus her mother drives. Amber's outsize personality, unrelenting optimism, and vocal faith both in people and in Jesus (who she calls "JC" in her chatty prayers) mask her dire circumstances, as well as her mother's neglect, and spur her to find community where other might see outcasts: with disabled classmates, a Vietnam vet with whom she trades haikus, the Korean women she teaches soul songs to improve their English, and the residents at a local home for the elderly. Amber's voice (" ‘JC,' I pray. ‘You see us at the school board meeting? Whatcha know about that, sucka?' ") is matched in its extremity by her supporting cast and by a tragedy, which dramatically alters the novel's course halfway through. Readers may not immediately take to Amber's personality, but it's nearly impossible to remain unmoved as she is brought back from her lowest moments by the very people she refused to give up on. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from May 1, 2010
Gr 8 Up-Surreptitiously living in Hello Yellow, the school bus her mother drives as a part-time job, Amber Appleton is an upbeat Catholic who spreads joy and happiness while keeping her own difficulties at home very quiet. Her dog, Billy Big Boy, is her companion whenever possible. Routinely, Amber teaches ESL to the KDFC, dubbed the Korean Divas for Christ, with Father Chee on the piano; visits Private Jackson, a Vietnam veteran and haiku specialist; and regularly stops at a nursing home where Old Man Linder backs her corner in her ongoing war of insults with Joan of Old, a Nietzschean cantankerous grump who inevitably smiles in the face of Amber's upbeat humor. The teen and her friends comprise the Franks Freaks Force Federation, ostensibly a school marketing club, but really a place for them to gather. AA's unending optimism in the face of difficult circumstances is well depicted with snappy dialogue and inner musings. When real tragedy hits and Amber is unable to cope, the stark difference between the Amber of the past and the present is delivered in extensive white space and short paragraphs. Amber feels blank. Her reemergence is abrupt, but like a musical, it provides the feel-good ending that rolls on until every bow is tied, every bad guy is given a dose of the Amber spirit, and all of the people in her life are brought together. This book is the answer to all those angst-ridden and painfully grim novels in the shortcut lingo of short attention-span theater. Hugely enjoyable."Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO"

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