Stoner & Spaz

Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl back--a tried-and-true plot line. What makes STONER & SPAZ different is the flawed title characters. Spaz is Ben, who is marked by crippling cerebral palsy. Colleen is a stoner, living to get high. When Ben bumps into Colleen at a local cinema, a friendship, then a romance, develops, growing to reveal personalities far greater than nicknames can describe--inside or out. Telling the story from Ben's point of view, Josh Hamilton plays both characters with earnest sincerity as a young man's first experience of love outshines any found on the silver screen and a young woman's commitment to her boyfriend competes with her commitment to drugs. Koertge's keen ear for teen dialogue, aided by Hamilton's performance, makes this love story far above average. M.M.O. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 3, 2003
With a youthful edge to his voice, Hamilton brings a rich credibility to the roles of teenagers Ben and Colleen, stars of Koertge's sharp and emotionally moving YA novel. As two very different kinds of outcasts, drug-addicted Colleen and cerebral palsy–afflicted Ben forge an unlikely friendship that helps each of them blossom. And in the author's true-to-life style, setbacks, successes and uncharted territory await the duo on the path of self-discovery. Hamilton handily masters Koertge's smart, contemporary repartee between the protagonists, capturing each note of sarcasm and humor as well as lots of film and pop-culture references. Hamilton also adds welcome shades of color to supporting characters, including Ben's stuffy, overprotective grandmother. This winning performance, which envisions Ben and Colleen as likable and sympathetic—warts and all—will please fans of Koertge's work and surely gain him new admirers. Ages 12-up.