Rock God

January 1, 2012
Here's a quick test to find out if this is your kind of book: "You blokes just happen to be on tour with Terry the Wünder-Dwarf and the Pirates of Munchausen!" B.J. Levine has a small, black book. It's called The Legend of the Good Supreme, and it's an instruction manual on becoming a "full-on, fire-breathing MEGALORD OF RRRRROCK." Because this is rock and roll, the book is missing all but six pages. So it doesn't tell B.J. he's going to meet a dwarf or be chased by elderly bikers. It just tells him his first step: Start a band. The story makes as much sense as your average Queen song, and it's just as much fun. The logic doesn't always track, chapters jump from first to third person without warning and some sentences go right off the rails: "He screamed like a little girl. Or not exactly like a little girl--more like some sort of frightened monkey. Like a frightened, heavy metal–singing monkey who'd stepped on a rusty nail." But no one knows what a pompatus of love is, either, and the Steve Miller Band managed just fine. This book teaches kids to spell "rock" with five Rs, and anyone who thinks that's good advice will find it an excellent instruction manual for life. (Fiction. 10-14)

(COPYRIGHT (2012) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from April 1, 2012

Gr 7-9-In a zany, fast-paced, retro rock-music adventure, B.J. Levine, 13, moves with his guitar-strumming father and protective mother to NYC. When a bearded specter named Merv visits his parents and drops a slim, tattered book titled The Legend of the Good Supreme, B.J. is mesmerized and decides to follow this guide to achieving success as a rocker. After recruiting three talented classmates to play in his band, he admits that he has no musical training or original songs. But an impromptu backstage performance for pop icons the D.O.G. catapults him and his band into an unexpected, harrowing road trip that ultimately dumps the teenage rockers at a competition in music mecca Asbury Park, NJ. Hounded by aging rock-loving bikers and dodging threats from the Overlord, B.J. performs with his band, finds his voice, discovers his true family, learns his real name (Bon Jovi), and realizes his dream. Loaded with witty musical references and allusions to songs, artists, places, and events from the 1970s to the present, B.J.'s quest for fame and self-discovery is a rollicking tale. Unknown to B.J., his parents are ex-rockers in hiding, and he is the long-awaited, messianic heir to the throne, following in the footsteps of Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Bon Jovi. In an adult world full of zealots and contradictions, B.J. is on a mission to solve riddles about his past and his future with the help of his friends. The teen is an action hero whose vulnerability, candor, impulsive actions, and determination will delight rock fans.-Gerry Larson, formerly at Durham School of the Arts, NC

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.