Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Audience: Middle School and up
Rating: A
Synopsis:
Steven thinks his life is rough: he considers himself an awkward band geek with an adorable little brother. This changes when his life actually becomes rough: his adorable little brother is diagnosed with leukemia. Steven tries to cope with the demands of eight grade, all-city jazz band, girls, and his dramatically changing family life. This book is touching, but more surprisingly, very, very funny.
Chatter:
(Spoiler Alerts! ) I loved this book! Jordan Sonnenblick is rapidly becoming one of my favorite YA authors. Thank you, BTA , for the suggestion. It was so easy to relate to Steven throughout this book. You can understand when he is frustrated by Jeffy, even though you never forget how much he loves his brother. This book is unusual in that it is so realistic – things are not sugar coated or babied down. Sonnenblick does a great job of capturing the intensity of this experience and understands that YA readers deserve (and need) realism too.
Poor Steven! He had so much responsibility put on him, and so much he takes upon himself. I don’t blame his parents for being so preoccupied with Jeffy’s illness, but how horrible was it that Steven spent weeks barely eating or doing schoolwork and no one (besides Annette) even noticed!
I was impressed by how much Steven evolved throughout the course of the book, but he stayed realistic. He didn’t turn into a super-saint, he still had selfish moments (don’t we all!), and he even though he made the right decision to skip his concert, the choice caused him some anxiety.
Jeffy was an awesome character too! I understood why Steven wanted to strangle him when he was yelling about Steven’s underwear in front of his crush and band mates. But then Jeff would do something like bring Steven tic tacs from the hospital, or how pathetic was it when Steven had the flu and Jeffy promised that if Steven didn’t die, he wouldn’t either. Sonnenblick really captured the characters of both these brothers in such a realistic way that if Steven Alper were enrolled in my class tomorrow, I wouldn’t blink twice!
Questions:
How does Steven change from the beginning of the book to the end?
What was the funniest part of this book? The saddest?
How do you think surviving cancer affects Jeffy?
Keep reading!
-Paige
Buy Drums, Girls, And Dangerous Pie from Amazon
Brittany M Says:
Where can i actually read this book on the internet?
xlexiloux42 Says:
i think the saddest part of the book was when Samantha died. I know that was probably the most predictable part of the book, but the fact that her sister wasnt there at her side made me cry. I think that Jeffy was the most heartbreaking character. The fact that he thought his brother was the most amazing person in the world, and how everytheing that steven did was so COOL (like checking out his muscles in his underwear in front of the mirror), and how selfless Jeffy was (buying Steven tictacs at the hospital). I just thought he was adorable.
BTA Says:
Hey everyone!
I thought the funniest part of the book was at one of Steven’s concerts because Jeffy was telling stuff about Steven to Renee. Like about flexing his muscles and practicng in his underwear made me crack up. I thought the saddiest part was when Samantha died becuase her sister never visited and Steven was crying really hard when he found out because before when he was there, he didnt say good bye. I also thought it was sad when Jeffy was diagnosed with cancer because a 4 year old to ave cancer is very tough I’m sure.
Erin Says:
I think that the funniest part of the book was when Jeffy told Renee that Steven practices his drums in front of a mirror in his underwear. It was very funny!! Also, I liked the part when Jeffy kept saying “My brother is a rockstar!!”. That was also a funny part in the great book!!!!
Anonymous Says:
This book was amazing
anna Says:
i loved this book read it!
Anonymous Says:
this book change my point of view in this horrible world
blah. Says:
my all-time favorite book! i loved the little jokes Sonnenblick put into it. and how awkwardly hilarious it was. absolutely amazing. if you haven’t read it, i suggest you go ahead and read it, TWICE!