Len Vlahos has held leadership positions with the American Booksellers Association and Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and co-owns The Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver, CO. His novel The Scar Boys was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award.
The Scar Boys
by Len Vlahos
eBook
-
ISBN-13:
9781606844403
- Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
- Publication date: 01/01/2014
- Sold by: Barnes & Noble
- Format: eBook
- Pages: 256
- File size: 2 MB
- Age Range: 14 - 15 Years
Available on NOOK devices and apps
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A severely burned teenager. A guitar. Punk rock. The chords of a rock 'n' roll road trip in a coming-of-age novel that is a must-read story about finding your place in the world . . . even if you carry scars inside and out.
In attempting to describe himself in his college application essay—to "help us to become acquainted with you beyond your courses, grades, and test scores"—Harbinger (Harry) Jones goes way beyond the 250-word limit and gives a full account of his life. The first defining moment: the day the neighborhood goons tied him to a tree during a lightning storm when he was 8 years old, and the tree was struck and caught fire. Harry was badly burned and has had to live with the physical and emotional scars, reactions from strangers, bullying, and loneliness that instantly became his everyday reality. The second defining moment: the day in eighth grade when the handsome, charismatic Johnny rescued him from the bullies and then made the startling suggestion that they start a band together. Harry discovered that playing music transported him out of his nightmare of a world, and he finally had something that compelled people to look beyond his physical appearance. Harry's description of his life in his essay is both humorous and heart-wrenching. He had a steeper road to climb than the average kid, but he ends up learning something about personal power, friendship, first love, and how to fit in the world. While he's looking back at the moments that have shaped his life, most of this story takes place while Harry is in high school and the summer after he graduates.
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"Harry Jones opens his story by submitting a 250-word essay to a college admissions boardonly he goes a book length over the limit. In so doing he recounts his traumatic past: the terrifying scene in which neighborhood bullies tied him to a tree and left him as a storm rolled in…and how the tree was struck by lightning, leaving him with disfiguring burn scars all over his face. He then describes his physical and mental recovery: how he formed a band that toured all over the country…and even kissed a girl. Set in the early 1980s, Vlahos's narrative flows easily and rings true. If Brent Runyon's The Burn Journals (Knopf, 2004) and Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Pocket Books, 1999) could be melded into a single work, it might be this one. Distinguished in every way." starred, School Library Journal