In Beat the Band, the sequel to Swim The Fly (a White Pine nominee in 2011) Mart and Sean and Coop are entering another year of high school. In an attempt to hook up with the girl of his dreams, Coop forms a band and enters "The Battle of the Bands". The problem is.. they stink. The solution is "Hotdog Helen" who can sing, but someone who the boys are less than enamoured with.
Discussion questions:
For those who have participated in last year's White Pine reads "Swim the Fly" was one of the funniest reads that White Pine has had to offer. Narrated by Matt, the book gave a hilarious insight into high school life.
- Did you find this story as engaging as "Swim The Fly" with a different narrator, one whom was written as an arrogant jerk in the prequel to this book? Did you like Coop at the end of the story and understand a bit more about him?
- The character of Helen is portrayed as the school loser and one who is not the most popular girl in school. Turns out that she can sing like an angel when given the chance to be in Coop's band. Does this revelation give you pause for thought when it comes to the old adage "don't judge a book by it's cover"? What did Helen teach Coop about the importance of "social status"?
- The language in this book is full of what I like to call "colourful language". Do you think that the book would have been just as funny without it?
Yes in fact I did find this story as engaging as "Swim The Fly". I found that Coop by the end of the book did infact change from the "brat" he was in the beginning. Would the book have been just as funny? Maybe it would have and maybe it wouldn't. In my opinion yes it would have. Helen taught Coop that it doesn't matter what people say about someone untill you get to know them.
ReplyDeleteI thought that coop did change from the beging of the book he turned out to be a nice guy on the inside i found that very interested. ia lso found this book even more entertaining then "swin the Fly." I found that Don Calame did a great jo with understanding a teenage mind. i do not think the book would have been funnier without the language, i ifind the language was what made the book what it was. it think that this story does bring in the old adage "you can judge a book by it's cover" i think it was a great book and i do highly recomend it to anyone. in the beging coop thought the popularity was the key to succes but eh finally learns that life doesn't revolve around how many friends you have.
ReplyDeleteJames Thomson