| |
Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsPfizer, Moderna to Expand Vaccine Studies in Young ChildrenCan COVID Transmit Easily on Crowded School Buses?Kids Still Dying From Accidental Exposure to Fentanyl Pain PatchesWhen Are Head Injury Risks Highest for Young Soccer Players?Simple Step Gets More School Kids Eating Their VeggiesSurvey Finds U.S. Parents Split on COVID Vaccination for Kids Under 12Most Parents Clueless About Overuse Dangers to Young PitchersEven Young Children Can Have Breathing Issues During Sleep1.5 Million Kids Worldwide Lost Parent or Other Caregiver to COVID-19Severe COVID in Kids: Rare, but Brain Issues Can ResultPrescriptions for U.S. Kids Declined During PandemicHow Your Kid's Education Could Make You HealthierPediatricians' Group: All School Kids, Staff Should Continue to Wear MasksAny COVID Infection Leaves Strong Antibody Levels in KidsMake Summer Camp Safe for Your Child With Asthma, AllergiesDrowning Deaths for U.S. Kids Have Fallen 38% Since 1999Heart Troubles Ease Over Time in Kids With MIS-CHalf of U.S. Teens Plan to Get COVID Shot, But Can Numbers Go Higher?Parent's Words Key to Young Kids' Fears Around VaccinationSummer Drowning Deaths Can Happen Quickly: Know the FactsWhy Handwriting Still Beats Typing, Videos at Helping Folks LearnVaccinated Teachers, Students Can Skip Masks This Fall: CDCIs Your Kid a Fast or Slow Eater? Personality Might TellLockdown Weight Gain May Have Caused Surge in New Diabetes Cases in KidsWhy Do So Many Kids Never Get Swimming Lessons?Screen All Kids for Heart Problems, Pediatricians' Group SaysFast-Food Companies Spending More on Ads Aimed at YouthTreating Teachers' Depression Could Boost Young Students' Grades: StudyDirty Air in Pregnancy Might Raise Baby's Obesity RiskChild Drownings in U.S. Pools, Spas Are on the RiseAHA News: As the Pandemic Wanes, Get Kids on the Road to Good Health This SummerAllergy Treatment Crucial If Your Child Has AsthmaScientists Discover Rare Form of ALS That Can Strike KidsDebunking Myths That Have Some Parents Resisting COVID Vaccines for TeensBedtime With a Pet Won't Harm Your Kid's Sleep - and Might HelpMost Cases of MIS-C in Kids With COVID Resolve After 6 MonthsFetal Exposure to Ultra-Fine Air Pollution Could Raise Asthma RisksAHA News: Kids With Sleep Apnea Into Teen Years Could Develop High Blood PressureIs Your Child at Risk for Asthma?Number of U.S. Kids Hospitalized With COVID Is Likely Overcounted: StudyClues to Rare Disorder Affecting Kids With COVID-19Pandemic Caused Rise in Telemedicine Visits for Kids, But Will the Trend Continue?What Works Best to Ease Recurrent Ear Infections in Kids?Rural U.S. Schools Are Bringing Back In-Person Learning Faster Than Urban SchoolsHow Summer Camps Can Shield Your Kids from Allergies, Asthma & COVIDCould Your Child Have a Heart Defect? Know the Warning SignsPoll Finds Many Parents Hesitant to Get Younger Kids VaccinatedAHA News: Prenatal Stress Can Program a Child's Brain for Later Health IssuesFDA Plans to OK Pfizer Vaccine for Those Aged 12 and Up5 Steps to Protect Young Athletes' Eyes Questions and AnswersVideosLinksBook Reviews100 Things Guys Need to Know3 NBS of Julian DrewA Guide to Asperger SyndromeA Tribe ApartA User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HDA Walk in the Rain With a BrainAdolescence and Body ImageAdolescent DepressionAfterAggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsAll Alone in the UniverseAmelia RulesAmericaAnother PlanetAntisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsArtemis FowlAssessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second EditionAutistic Spectrum DisordersBad GirlBetween Two WorldsBeyond AppearanceBeyond Diversity DayBig Mouth & Ugly GirlBill HensonBipolar DisordersBody Image, Eating Disorders, and ObesityBody Image, Eating Disorders, and Obesity in YouthBoyBoysBrandedBreaking PointBreathing UnderwaterBringing Up ParentsBullying and TeasingCan't Eat, Won't EatCatalystChild and Adolescent Psychological DisordersChildren Changed by TraumaChildren with Emerald EyesChildren’s Dreaming and the Development of Consciousness City of OneConcise Guide to Child and Adolescent PsychiatryConquering the Beast WithinContentious IssuesCrackedCutDancing in My NuddypantsDemystifying the Autistic ExperienceDescartes' BabyDilemmas of DesireDirtyDoing ItDoing SchoolDying to Be ThinEating an ArtichokeEducating Children With AutismElijah's CupEllison the ElephantEmerald City BluesEmotional and Behavioral Problems of Young ChildrenEvery Girl Tells a StoryFast GirlsFeather BoyFiregirlForever YoungFreaks, Geeks and Asperger SyndromeFreewillGeography ClubGeorgia Under WaterGirl in the MirrorGirlfightingGirlsourceGirlWiseGLBTQGood GirlsGoodbye RuneGranny Torrelli Makes SoupGrowing Up GirlHandbook for BoysHealing ADDHeartbeatHelping Children Cope With Disasters and TerrorismHelping Parents, Youth, and Teachers Understand Medications for Behavioral and Emotional ProblemsHollow KidsHow Children Learn the Meanings of WordsHow to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do If You Can'tHug MeIntrusive ParentingIt's Me!It's Perfectly NormalJake RileyJoey Pigza Swallowed the KeyJuvenile-Onset SchizophreniaKeeping the MoonKilling MonstersKim: Empty InsideKnocked Out by My Nunga-NungasLaura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your MonsterLearning About School ViolenceLeo the Lightning BugLet Kids Be KidsLiberation's ChildrenLife As We Know ItLisa, Bright and DarkLittle ChicagoLord of the FliesLoserLove and SexLove That DogManicMastering Anger and AggressionMind FieldsMiss American PieMom, Dad, I'm Gay.MonsterMore Than a LabelMyths of ChildhoodNew Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar DisorderNo Two AlikeNot Much Just Chillin'Odd Girl OutOdd Girl Speaks OutOn the Frontier of AdulthoodOne Hot SecondOne in ThirteenOphelia SpeaksOphelia's MomOur Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger SyndromeOut of the DustOvercoming School AnxietyParenting and the Child's WorldParenting Your Out-Of-Control TeenagerPediatric PsychopharmacologyPeriod PiecesPhobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and AdolescentsPINSPraising Boys WellPraising Girls WellPretty in PunkPrincess in the SpotlightProblem Child or Quirky Kid?Psychotherapy As PraxisPsychotherapy for Children and AdolescentsRaising a Self-StarterRaising BlazeRaising Resilient ChildrenReclaiming Our ChildrenRedressing the EmperorReducing Adolescent RiskRethinking ADHDReweaving the Autistic TapestryRineke DijkstraRitalin is Not the Answer Action GuideRunning on RitalinSay YesSexual Teens, Sexual MediaSexuality in AdolescenceShooterShort PeopleShould I Medicate My Child?Skin GameSmackSmashedStaying Connected to Your TeenagerStick FigureStoner & SpazStop Arguing with Your KidsStraight Talk about Your Child's Mental HealthStrong, Smart, & BoldStudent DepressionSurvival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar DisorderSurviving OpheliaTaking Charge of ADHD, Revised EditionTaming the Troublesome ChildTargeting AutismTeaching Problems and the Problems of TeachingTeen Angst? NaaahThat SummerThe American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook Of Child And Adolescent PsychiatryThe Arctic IncidentThe Bipolar ChildThe Buffalo TreeThe Bully, the Bullied, and the BystanderThe Carnivorous CarnivalThe Depressed ChildThe Developing MindThe Dragons of AutismThe Dream BearerThe Dulcimer Boy The Einstein SyndromeThe EpidemicThe Eternity CubeThe Explosive ChildThe Field of the DogsThe First IdeaThe Identity TrapThe Inside Story on Teen GirlsThe Little TernThe Mean Girl MotiveThe Men They Will BecomeThe Myth of LazinessThe New Gay TeenagerThe Notebook GirlsThe Nurture AssumptionThe Opposite of InvisibleThe Order of the Poison OakThe Other ParentThe Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday LifeThe Real Truth About Teens and SexThe Rise and Fall of the American TeenagerThe Secret Lives of GirlsThe Sex Lives of TeenagersThe Shared HeartThe Spider and the BeeThe StepsThe Thought that CountsThe Unhappy ChildThe Vile VillageThe Whole ChildThen Again, Maybe I Won'tTherapy with ChildrenThings I Have to Tell YouTouching Spirit BearTrauma in the Lives of ChildrenTreacherous LoveTrue BelieverTwistedUnhappy TeenagersWay to Be!We're Not MonstersWhat about the KidsWhat Would Joey Do?What's Happening to My Body? Book for BoysWhat's Happening to My Body? Book for GirlsWhen Nothing Matters AnymoreWhen Sex Goes to SchoolWhen Your Child Has an Eating DisorderWhere The Kissing Never StopsWhose America?Why Are You So Sad?WinnicottWorried All the TimeYes, Your Teen Is Crazy!You Hear MeYoung People and Mental HealthYour Child, Bully or Victim? |
| |
by Ronald Koertge Candlewick Press, 2002 Review by Liz Bass on Jun 3rd 2002 
This
book is a quick read, and the experience is like watching six Leave It To
Beaver re-runs. In fact, it is easy to imagine the Cleavers living down the
block from Ben Bancroft (Spaz) and his worry-wart grandma. Wally would think of
Ben as a sort-a friend (but not too close-a friend), and the Beav would be at
Grandma’s back door on a regular basis trying to volunteer for chores because
everyone in the neighborhood knows that Ben can’t do them because he has
cerebral palsy (or C.P., as Ben calls it). Grandma, of course, would be patient
with Beav, but irritated all the same. However, she’d never show it because
she’s a classy lady. Anyway, that’s how things are played out in Lala Land --
otherwise known as ASC (Affluent Southern California). Or are they really?
Stoner & Spaz is
an improbable book in the same way that Leave It To Beaver is an improbable story
about an improbable family. Both the book and the sit-com, however, are well
written and based on ideas that are easy to digest. They both fall well within
the comfort zone of SCAE (Southern California Artistic Expression). Schlocky
but harmless.
Readers
of Stoner & Spaz might point out
that while the Beav’s world operated without the benefit of sex, drugs, and
grungy music, Ben Bancroft’s world is full of it, and they would be right. The
fact remains, however, that what Ben and Beav have in common is a geewhiz
response to their environment, and an unswerving belief that no matter how bad
things get, life will improve. Somehow.
In
this 169 page episode of Leave It To
Bancroft, here’s what happens: Ben, who is described at various times as a
spaz, an orphan, and disabled, lives with his grandma and wants for nothing in
the way of food, clothing, and shelter. What is missing in his life is peer
friendship, particularly of the female variety. He is a movie buff who knows
the lore (Elsa Lanchester was the original "big hair" woman in Bride
of Frankenstein) and finds applications in his own life for lines of dialogue
spoken many moons ago by Humphrey Bogart.
Enter
Colleen Minou, a classmate at King High School. She is a Salvation Army clothes
horse who deals drugs in order to keep herself supplied. She loves her drugs
more than anything. Colleen is an irreverent exhibitionist who hopes to use Ben
in whatever way she can (writing her English papers or borrowing money, for
example). Ben is so desperate for any kind of female attention that he goes for
this girl, much to his grandma’s dismay.
There
are some interesting side trips off the main plot line. We meet Ed, who is
Colleen’s bicepted boyfriend (who also loves drugs). We see Colleen trying to
kick her habit. We see Ben trying to make a movie about the people at King
High, and inevitably, we see Ben and Colleen in bed together at his older woman
friend’s house. Incidentally, you get the feeling that Eddie Haskell would know
this older woman friend, but that Wally would not. Anyway, Boyfriend Ed is the
predictable failure, and Ben’s home movie is the predictable success. Colleen
is. . .well, I won’t spoil that. You can read it for yourself.
I
can imagine whole carloads of Stoner &
Spaz characters pulling in and out of fast food places trying to satisfy
their urges. It also occurs to me that if there was such a thing as a fast lit restaurant,
this book would be on the menu. It has a less-than-substantial drug dealer with
a heart of gold, a ditsy neighbor who gives a teenager the keys to her house
and then takes off, a grandma who is a control freak but loveable nonetheless,
and a kid with C.P. who finally moves into the fast and friendly lane at King
High School because of his movie-making skills.
Be
it fast food or fast lit, none of it stays with you for very long. After a few
hours, as the old saying goes, you wind up hungry again.
© 2002 Liz Bass
Liz
Bass is a retired teacher and principal who lives in Northern California.
|
