- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: MTV Books; Original edition (July 21 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1439102821
- ISBN-13: 978-1439102824
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 13 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#214,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #55 in Books > Teens > Social Issues > Drug Use & Abuse > Fiction
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Ballads are the kind of songs that Kara McNaughton likes best. Not the clichÉd ones where a diva hits her dramatic high note or a rock band tones it down a couple of notches for the ladies, but the true ballads: the punk rocker or the country crooner reminding their listeners of the numerous ways to screw things up. In high school, Kara helped maintain the "Stories of Suburbia" notebook, which contained newspaper articles about bizarre, tragic events from suburbs all over America, and personal vignettes that Kara dubbed "ballads" written by her friends in Oak Park, just outside of Chicago. But Kara never wrote her own ballad. Before she could figure out what her song was about, she left town suddenly at the end of her junior year. Now, four years later, Kara returns to her hometown to face the music, needing to revisit the disastrous events that led to her leaving, in order to move on with her life.
Intensely powerful and utterly engaging, Ballads of Suburbia explores the heartbreaking moments when life changes unexpectedly, and reveals the consequences of being forced to grow up too soon.
About the Author
Stephanie Kuehnert got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist Õzines. She received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago and lives in Forest Park, Illinois. This novel is her first. Visit her website at www.stephaniekuehnert.com.
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dreaming of Books Review,
By
This review is from: Ballads of Suburbia (Paperback)
Growing up I was nothing like Kara and her friends so I didn't know what I would think of the characters at first. They all seemed so different from who I am, being into drugs and punk rock. But once I started reading I was hooked. The characters came alive for me and my heart ached for each of them.
I felt so many mixed up emotions while reading the book. The author weaves their individual ballads into a story that is heartbreaking, intense and an honest portrayal of teens from the suburbs in the early 90's. The characters poured their hearts out in their ballads. And even though none of these things ever happened to me I know that these things do happen to others. Adults, teens, everyone this one's a must read!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too,
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ballads of Suburbia (Paperback)
Ms. Kuehnert has written another powerful and hard-hitting novel to follow up her stunning debut, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE.
Kara is friendless when her BFF Stacey has to move to another less expensive suburb of Chicago. So when new girl Maya enters Chemistry class and sits down beside her, she's excited to see a kindred soul. Soon the two take to hanging out after school in Scoville Park. Maya is everything Kara isn't, first and foremost outgoing. Maya jumps right in and creates a spot for them with the gang at Scoville. It isn't until Kara becomes associated with fire that she truly feels she's part of the crowd. Kara uses Scoville to help escape life at home. Her parents are constantly at odds and her younger brother, Liam, is as desperate for attention as Kara is. She begins to bring Liam with her to Scoville and he soon becomes another member of the group. BALLADS OF SUBURBIA explores Kara's connections with the others that hang out at Scoville. These kids know how to party, and slowly Kara gets sucked into the world of drugs by those around here. She's attracted to bad boy Adrian and is told that he must really like her because he treats her differently than all the other girls. But she knows she should be with Christian, the good guy. It isn't until Christian turns dark that Kara's world truly blows up. Friendships are tested and emotions flare. Interspersed throughout the novel, Ms. Kuehnert inserts the "ballads" of various characters. Adrian has in his possession a journal that anyone can read, with the condition that you must first write your own story. Kara can never bring herself to write her story, even when tragedy hits...more than once. It isn't until Kara ventures home after escaping the negativity of Oak Park that life comes full circle for Kara. BALLADS OF SUBURBIA is a dark, desperate look at teenage life in the suburbs in the early 1990s. Ms. Kuehnert gets right to the heart of the teenage angst and struggles to fit in to any crowd. Though a bleak look, the ending leaves the reader filled with hope at the future Kara is trying to create for herself. Reviewed by: Jaglvr
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.9 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LOVELOVELOVE,
By Khy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ballads of Suburbia (Paperback)
I can count on one hand the number of books that have "wow"ed me this year. I've read some meh, average, better than average, and the occasional awesome book, but only 4 or 5 that have made me go "wow." This book is one of that wowed me.
This book is definitely not an easy read- it's full of hard-hitting issues: drugs, cutting, all sorts of others. With heavy books like this, I usually need to stop every so often and think about what I'm reading, but I could not put this one down. I found myself going "one more chapter, just one more" and then I'd go from page 100 to 250 without even realizing it. Reading about Kara is heartbreaking- I almost cried at one point- but I was compelled to keep reading about the many ups and downs in her life. There's never a dull moment- even in the beginning, when older Kara is speaking, not teenage Kara. The ballads- stories of the characters' lives and why they act like they do, basically- give each character unexpected depth. Many of the characters make awful, questionable, or even bizarre choices, and although the other characters only spoke for about a chapter, their motives are explained and their personalities make so much more sense. Kara is given more depth as well from the epilogue in the beginning of the book- seeing how Kara ends up makes reading about her journey more interesting, and also makes it easier to see how her decisions effect her. All that really needs to be said about Ballads of Suburbia is that it's spectacular, and that I can't recommend it enough. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Book!!!,
By Cam "poptart675" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ballads of Suburbia (Paperback)
I loved Kuehnert's first book, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, so I was very excited for this one and I was in no way disappointed. Ballads of Suburbia is a fantastic book and one that will stay with me for a long time to come.
I graduated from a Midwestern high school in the nineties. I'm a couple years older than the kids in this book are, but for the most part, they are of my generation. The music mentioned in this book is the same stuff I was listening to at the time and am still listening to today. Kuehnert's work transports me to another time and I can't get enough of it. Her writing is incredibly powerful and each separate "ballad" in the book captures that power. Each of these vivid character studies link seamlessly together to tell the story of not just this group of lost souls, but of an entire generation. At the heart of the story is Kara, who without knowing it, really holds the group together. As she starts to lost touch, we see her world crumbling around her and we are powerless to stop it. Ballads perfectly portrays that slippery slope of adolescence. It's so easy to lose your way when everything and everyone around you is changing so rapidly. Often as teenagers, I think there's this fear that if we don't catch up, we'll be passed by, at least that's how I felt in high school. This was just a really moving book and at its heart it is very hopeful and optimistic. It seems really bold to call someone the voice of a generation, but that's how I see Kuehnert. I may not have shared the experiences of the characters in the book, but I recognize their journey and their voices. Stephanie Kuehnert is amazing and I will gladly read anything she writes from here on out. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
another great!,
By J. Hassler - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ballads of Suburbia (Paperback)
This book is really interesting the whole way through. Kudos to Stephanie for another very entertaining book!
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