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young adult book reviews & more

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert

I Wanna Be Your Joey RamoneFor Emily Black, music is everything. It’s what made her parents fall in love way back when. It’s what her mother Louisa was following when she left baby Emily. It’s what Emily has to stay in control of her life. Music draws her from her dreary life in Carlisle, Wisconsin to River’s Edge, an abandoned warehouse where rock bands play. River’s Edge is where Emily got her fill of sex, drinking, and rock ‘n’ roll, and where her dreams of being a punk rock goddess began. So she and her best friend Regan form a punk band named She Laughs, and Emily can’t help but hope that by playing music, she’ll bring her mother home.

Soon, her band is swept up in the dangerous world of rock music. Her band has a lot of talent, but so many ups and downs in Emily’s life lead her away from the music. There are the bad boyfriends, the death of her grandparents, the involvement with drugs and self-medication, and a year wasted searching for her mother. But eventually Emily finds her way back on track, and her friends are still waiting for her to come back and pick up her guitar. And so she does, because music is all she has.

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone is a beautiful coming-of-age story that I will never forget. Reading along from both Emily’s and Louisa’s points-of-views was heartbreaking at times, because they’ve both experienced so much pain in their lives. The story that Stephanie Kuehnert has woven has lessons on everything from friendship, family, love, drugs, and learning to love, or at least accept, the person you are. The story is filled with so much raw emotion, and I nearly cried at the ending because I didn’t want the story to be over.

I have to admit that I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone is like no other book I’ve ever read, and that is definitely a good thing. I’ve learned so much from this novel that I never would’ve expected from first glance. It made me want to find my inner punk rocker and scream along to deafening punk music. I highly recommend everyone buy this book when it comes out this July or pre-order it now; I promise you won’t regret picking up this up.

Rating: 5.0

Review copy from author Stephanie Kuehnert

10 munch(es) :

Chelsie said...

I am REALLY looking forward to this book... I've been talking to Stephanie on MySpace, she's really nice and we're both from the Midwest, and this book is set in Wisconsin, where I'm from, so that just makes me want to read it even more.

(That was a really long run-on sentence...)

Great review!

~Chelsie~

Nurin said...

eek! I want to read that book so bad ;) Lucky you

pocketz♥full♥of♥posiez said...

TAG UR IT!!
RULES
1/ you link back to the person who tagged you.
2/ post these rules on your blog.
3/ share six unimportant things about yourself.
4/ tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5/ let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Kareeee said...

I came across this book online a little while ago, and thought it sounded great.
Can't wait 'til it comes out!
Awesome review!

x

the story siren said...

i've heard nothing but good things about this book! i can't wait to read it!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Great review. this book looks amazing, I agree. I can't wait to read it!

Lis said...

Great review! Can't wait to read this one :)

Breanna said...

I cannot wait to read this book, I am definitely going to buy this one. =)

Great Review!

Heather said...

I've heard nothing that wasn't good about this book. I'm dying to read it and hope I win the contest for the ARC

Melissa Walker said...

Let me add my "can't wait to read!" here. :)

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