Echo Booming Monologues: 100 Monologues for Teens (Paperback)

by Mary Depner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
100 fresh monologues for teens running the gamut from drop-dead dramatic to seriously funny. 100 reasons for you to get the part you deserve!

Product Details

• Paperback: 130 pages
• Publisher: Jelliroll, Inc (July 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604025298
• ISBN-13: 978-1604025293
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,738 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Echo Booming is excellent!, November 2, 2007

By	BookReview.com (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

After only a few of these one hundred monologues for teens,
it is very obvious this former drama teacher is in touch
with her audience. And it seems to me adolescents need to
start by expressing their real feelings (in and out of
plays) instead of grasping for the larger issues of Love,
Death and God they seem to think gain them more attention (I
only found one of these here, a child talking to his or her
dead mother at her gravestone). Each of these monologues has
a built in drama playing up the opposites possibilities of
its subject matter in a way to make and audience wonder what
will happen. And each builds to a climax that would allow
the actor to show off his or her strengths.

Some of the monologues struck me as more poignant that
others--"A Favor" in which a young person asks a friend if
the speaker can sleep over at the friend's house because his
or her father is acting strange; "Thanks, I Think" where a
guy gets a ring from his aunt but worries that it might be
designed for a girl; and "Jerk" in which the speaker finds
his or her birthmother but that person doesn't want to speak
to her child. These made me think there are real situations
that happen outside of the classroom and the author is
giving teenagers words they perhaps would have difficulty
finding on their own to express how they feel. That seems
very healthy and worthwhile in itself. Isn't it the same
reason we, as adults, go to plays, read books and attend
thoughtful movies? They help us express what we cannot.

When the monologues dip into the vernacular they seem less
genuine to me: "I came home from work and she was out of
there man. No, man. Yeah, it kind of sucks, but that's cool.
No note, no nothing. Yeah, dude I'm sure. Dude, I looked all
over the place. You think I don't look all over the place?
She's my mother, man." But there are cut-ups I knew in my
high school teaching days that I can hear doing "Money" with
its quirky logic and ironic conclusion. And were I the
teacher of students doing these, I would certainly ask why
they chose the particular ones they did. I can see many an
active class discussion following their answers.

I didn't really spot any clinkers. These monologues seem
thoughtful, field-tested and great tools for teachers of
drama, English, creative writing, and some classes in
sociology that involve self-discovery. And what would happen
if after reading and performing these you asked kids to
write some of their own? I just bet they would include
teacher/student interaction, sex, drugs and rock
music--conspicuously absent in this collection (probably
because administrators and parents would object). But there
is plenty here and it is terrific. Plus, what a great title
for the book, whatever the "Echo Boomer" term may mean about
the audience's generation. This is a very worthwhile tool
for students and teachers. As "Use It" says: "I know I'm
only fifteen, but I'm smart enough to know that a lot of the
crap you're going through right now, it's gonna change. It
just seems like it never will. But, hey, you know what, look
at the bright side. You're an actress. You're an artist. You
have the opportunity to take all this...stuff...I mean this
pain, and use it. Use it baby. If you look at it like that,
all the bad stuff that happens, it's the best thing that any
actor could hope for." Bravo!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Messages, August 2, 2007

By	MEG (USA) - See all my reviews

Sensitive, powerful messages, reflecting teen Echo Boomer daily life, values, tribulations and triumphs and will to succeed.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bull's-Eye, July 28, 2007

By	UltraPen - See all my reviews

Echo Booming is a soul searching look into the lives of today's youth. Humorous, insightful, and for delivery straight to the heart, these monologues hit a Bull's-Eye!