Beat the Band

Author: Don Calame
Recommended Age: Young Adult
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN:  978-0-7636-4633-2
Year Published: 2010
No. Pages: 390
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Character Gender: Male
Read & Reviewed by: Morgan




Coop and his two buddies Matt and Sean are trying to keep their sophomore year from going up in flames by tagging as many bases as they can before the year ends. What better way to impress the girls than becoming rock sensations. Coop enters them in the Battle of the Bands at their school. Coop plans on impressing the sexy and divine Prudence Nash but things go wrong when he is paired with Helen in health class. Not only is hotdog Helen considered one of the school’s biggest losers but their project is about contraception. Convinced his high school career will be ruined and his reputation too, Coop tries to escape Helen. His dad becomes the band’s manager and he convinces Helen to be the lead singer to save the band. Could things get any worse?

This book really got me right into the action because of the non-stop humor and all the jokes no adult would dare to share. The raunchy language is funny to me and the jokes are classics you will even find jokes in this book about fortune cookies. I also loved the fast paced writing because I got caught in the momentum and wanted to read more. In the first book of this trilogy I thought Coop was a loser and that he wasn't very exciting. Reading this second book, from Coop's perspective, I started to like him. He is rude and obnoxious but that's how we all are in our teenage years. I liked Coop because he is funny and not afraid to be a fool. He can also be very open and honest.

Helen Harriwick is considered one of the biggest losers at the school. Helen is treated dreadfully by everyone. The students at the school pull horrible pranks on her and call her horrible names. Coop believes the rumors until he gets to know her. This allows the novel to explore the themes of rumors, bullying and judging people.

I am going into high school so this book is a perfect example of how awkward high school can be and how mean people can be towards others. Don Calame used the characters to help awkward situations. In this book, Coop and Helen are assigned a research project on contraceptives and this is guaranteed to get you snickering and belly laughing. Because, who doesn’t like a good joke about contraceptives?

I rated this book a 10\10 because of the humor and because how teenagers will relate to the story. This novel is the second in the trilogy. The first was Swim the Fly and the final novel, Call the Shots will be published in March 2012.