JORDAN SONNENBLICK is the author of Dodger and Me (Book 1) and Dodger for President (Book 2), both available in paperback from Square Fish. He is also the author of several acclaimed teen novels, including Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. He lives with his family in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Are You Experienced?
Paperback
(Reprint)
- ISBN-13: 9781250063045
- Publisher: Square Fish
- Publication date: 12/08/2015
- Edition description: Reprint
- Pages: 304
- Sales rank: 166,694
- Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)
- Age Range: 12 - 18 Years
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Rich is fifteen and plays guitar. When his girlfriend asks him to perform at protest rally, he jumps at the chance. Unfortunately, the police show up, and so does Rich’s dad. He’s in big trouble. Again. To make matters worse, this happens near the anniversary of his uncle’s death from a drug overdose years ago. Rich’s dad always gets depressed this time of year, but whenever Rich asks questions about his late uncle, his dad shuts down.
Frustrated by his dad’s silence, Rich sneaks into his office and breaks into a locked cabinet that holds his dad’s prized possession: an electric guitar signed by Jimi Hendrix. Before he knows it, Rich is transported to the side of a road in Upstate New York with a beautiful girl bending over him. It will take him a while to realize it’s 1969, he’s at Woodstock, and the girl’s band of friends includes his fifteen-year-old dad and his uncle, who’s still alive. In Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick, what Rich learns, who he meets, and what he does could change his life forever.
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"This provocative, personal peek at legendary Woodstock rocks." Kirkus Reviews
"Captures the mood and magic of the famous weekend from a distinctly contemporary perspective." BCCB
Gr 8–10—October 2014. Rich is a guitar-playing 15-year-old whose parents, former hippies, are strict. When the teen's goth girlfriend talks him into performing at a rally for the legalization of medical marijuana, Rich lies to his father but gets caught when the man shows up at the event. After a blowup and Rich is grounded, he finds the guitar that Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock in 1969 in his father's closet. Rich is suddenly transported back to that time and place. He lands naked in the street and gets hit by a car. The catch? The car is driven by his father's older brother, Michael, who is fated to die from a heroin overdose a couple of weeks later. His uncle's girlfriend convinces Rich to join them on their trip to a music festival: Woodstock. Rich shares the backseat with Michael's hyperactive younger brother, David, who will grow up to become Rich's dad. While the book is humorous at times, the vernacular doesn't quite resonate as realistic. In addition, the teen's antagonistic relationship with his dad feels somewhat forced. While readers may be able to suspend disbelief in regard to the Hendrix guitar, it's curious that the teen doesn't seem overly concerned about returning to his own world. The novel is well researched, but it's unlikely that teens will connect with all the references.—Ryan P. Donovan, New York Public Library
When 15-year-old Rich Barber travels back in time from 2014 to the 1969 Woodstock festival, he encounters the '60s, including his teenage father. Rich loves playing the guitar and wishes he had been around in the '60s, like his father and uncle who played in a rock band and attended Woodstock. After his older brother died from a heroin overdose, though, Rich's father turned into a depressed, overprotective adult. Rich has spent his whole life limited by his father's rules. When he discovers his father's been hiding a guitar rock luminary Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock, Rich defiantly strikes a chord and wakes up on the road to Woodstock with his father, his uncle and his uncle's girlfriend. A stranger from the future who knows what's going to happen, Rich conceals his identity and bonds with his father. Together, they witness Woodstock's free love, rampant drug use and incredible music. When Rich learns his father had abusive parents, he's determined to "meet Jimi Hendrix, save [his] uncle and change [his] father's future." Alternating his first-person narration between past and present, Rich proves a sensitive, insightful and humorous 21st-century guide to the hippie generation's most iconic event. This provocative, personal peek at legendary Woodstock rocks. (Fantasy. 12 & up)