Stoner & Spaz

Catchy title, no? Unfortunately I can't take credit for making it up. It's the title of a YA novel by Ron Koertge that I just finished this morning and MAN, WAS IT EVER GOOD!! Un-put-downable. It's the story of unlikely friends: Ben Bancroft, who has cerebral palsy, and drugged-out Colleen Minou. Great dialogue, great setting, great plot, great themes.

My friend Lori Weber, another Montreal-based YA writer, recommended the book. Starting in October, Lori and I will be team-teaching a Quebec Writers Federation course on writing for teens -- and we're going to use Stoner & Spaz with our students. It's a small book (169 pages), but it sure has a lot going on in it both in terms of content and style. Ben Bancroft is obsessed with movies and the book is full of movie references. At one point, Ben thinks about how filmmakers use something called "establishing shots" to set the scene -- well, writers do that, too, of course. The book makes you think about the links between literature and film. If you haven't read it, add it to your reading list.