Rubens, Michael The Bad Decisions Playlist, 296 pages. Clarion Books, 2016. $18.
Language: R (100+ swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: R (drugs, drinking,
sex); Violence: PG-13 (bullying, father hits son).
Whenever Austin has a chance to make a sane decision, he
always chooses the opposite. Between his
grades and his love life, he has nothing going on before senior year except
summer school and more bad choices. Then
one day a famous stranger shows up on his doorstep. Austin’s father isn’t dead like his mother
has told him all of these years. Nope,
his father is rock musician Shane Tucker – who had no idea he had a son. Austin is ready for a whole new level of bad
decisions.
Don’t expect a tidy bow and a change of character for anyone
in this book. Austin continues to
justify his choice and make bad choices, though fewer of them, barely squeaking
his way towards the future. It’s a great look at art of self-destruction and
self-deception, both in Austin and in his new-found father. I just can’t
imagine that the kids who probably need to read this book will ever pick it
up. Though, this would probably make a
great movie, but for a book I’d pick Road
Rash by Mark Parsons over this.
HS – OPTIONAL. Cindy,
Library Teacher
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