Book Whore

So I recently just finished up two books by a new author I discovered named Frank Anthony Polito. I wanted until I finished both books before even considering a review mostly because-while these books are not a series--they are tied very much into each other and i wanted to see the full picture of the plotline that he was trying to spin.

The story bridges over two books "Band Fags" and "Drama Queers" and focuses on teh friendship between Jack and Brad-two high sophmores in the year of 1982. Neither character is perfect and I spent huge mounts of time wishing they were better people but what Polito does so well is capture the nature of friendships in high school, the way teachers and classmates, friends and romantic partners drift in and out of our lives during that window of time.

One of my favorite things about the books is that they both cover the same period of time but in very different ways. He uses the gaps in exeperiences-moments where Jack is missing his novel are cover in Brad's story and vise versa presenting not only the 'missing time' but also the two very different views of the same exeperience. How each character sees and feels about things is as important to the plot and at points things that seem odd or misunderstood come to a clarity that enjoyed.

But the best thing about the novels is how Polito really gets into the head and time period of the story. The time frame of the 80's is used not for a gimmick but these kids really care about things that Polito goes into great depth about whether it is an obsessing over Hope from 'Days of Our Lives (the plot point where one of the boys meets the actress is so dead on in teen earnestness and agnst--we've all been there about something) and carries through to the muisc, the fashion and the events that shaped the time period. There is an honest love of things that only teenagers can have and it is brough out in all glory and shame.

In the end, the two books give no easy answers for either character. Things are left unanswered and choices continue to come at them in a way that is very true to life. It's about what friendship means, what beinga teenager is about in terms of wants, desires, hopes and fears. It will be interesting to see where Polito goes as a writer since so much of the books seems so true to his life and exepereinces but I am eager to se where he can take us