Customer Reviews

Pepperland

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, yes, I'm the same Mark Delaney who wrote Pepperland. But since Amazon has yet to add any reviews or ad copy, I'd thought I'd at least take this opportunity to tell potential readers what the book is about. I know the five stars has no credibility coming as it does from the book's author, but I had to put down something to post this notice, and what do you expect?

Here's the publisher's copy on the book...

Pamela Jean (a.k.a. Star) is sixteen when her mother dies of breast cancer. Star is angry that her mother has died and left her, and nothing seems to make her feel better: Not talking to her shrink. Not playing music with her best friend Dooley. Not even listening to her mother's old familiar Beatles albums.

It is not until Star finds an unsent letter addressed to John Lennon and a broken-down vintage Gibson guitar that she begins to find a way out of her grief...and maybe even a way to take care of some unfinished business left by her mother.

That's Peachtree's description of the book. Now here's an early review...

"The fragrance of the long-past sixties suffuses this perfect YA novel. Mark Delaney shows a mastery of the genre in a touching and beautifully constructed story of two decent kids whose intelligence and talents make them special outsiders and whose simple caring for each other is messed up by the world around them. A tender and real love story and an enormously satisfying read."

--Patty Campbell
Editor of the Scarecrow Studies in Literature and
President-Elect of ALAN

(And if I may say so, thank you, Patty!)

From me: The book is an homage to the Beatles, to the healing power of music, and to the depth of the mother/daughter relationship. I'll let subsequent reviewers decide whether or not the story succeeds on those levels, but I can say I've never been more proud of anything I've written. Readers will meet Star's mother in a series of flashbacks, and they will watch as Star fumbles through a clumsy romance. Beatle fans will love the fact that the chapters are (I think aptly) titled after Beatle songs, and musicians should enjoy Star's attempt to restore her mother's vintage Gibson J-160 (that's the same model guitar Lennon plays in the train scene in the film A Hard Day's Night).

Thanks for listening!

I've always enjoyed Mark Delaney's books, and this one in particular. He's chosen a very difficult subject to tackle and has pulled it off with a naturalness and true emotion. Star is very real--he's impressively filled her with the sadness and the anger that her situation would bring while still making her extremely likeable. There are funny moments and exciting moments and his vivid, poetic language, but what stands out the most, for me, is the beautiful way Star's underlying strength and her love for music (shared with her mother) help her to work through the grief and the anger over her mother's death. This book moved me to tears a number of times. I loved the running thread of John Lennon--and the clever way the chapters were named after Beatles tunes. I loved the way Lennon's appearance, though strong, is only figurative, just as the letter Star's mother wrote to him is never actually presented to us to read--reminding us that everything, even Star's beloved music, is only secondary to the love of a girl for her mom.

Mark Delaney's Pepperland resonates like a Beatles tune. Set in 1980, the novel's structure results from John Lennon's lyrics and their significance to Pepperland's main character, Star.

Sixteen when her mother dies, Star hides behind her Telecaster during therapy with Dr. Artaud, avoids her biker stepfather Syke, and attacks when bullies harass her best friend Dooley.

When Dr. Artaud suggests Star write a song, she finally sifts through her mother's possessions, looking for clues to spark her imagination. Among the boxes, Star unearths her mother's letter to John Lennon and her damaged vintage Gibson guitar.

Trading out labor at Seegar's Guitar Repair for repairing the Gibson, Star reflects on her mother's memories as well as Lennon's disparate songs for his mother-the nostalgic "Julia" and the enraged "Mother"-and the song begins.

Love and loss are music's inspirations, and Delaney weaves their melodies together for this powerful, realistic novel.

Wendy Cope, Kennesaw State University, for SIGNAL magazine

I was at the library, and desperate for something to read. I saw "Pepperland" and my thoughts immediently began thinking about the Beatle's movie that i've watched so many times. I picked it up, saw "Beatles" and "Lennon" and "Guitar", three of my favorite words ever and had the entire book read by the end of the afternoon.

I'm 15 years old, and have always hated having books written about teens rebelling against their parents, yada yada. I hate rebel-without-a-cause type of stuff, and wondered why there were never books where teens had a good relationship with their parents. I like this book because Star and Skye respect each other instead of participating in the cliche' "parent vs. teen" stuff. Star is so much like me in the way she thinks and the way she feels about music and playing the guitar. This book looks into things in a much deeper way than other books written for teens my age, and I like that. A sequel would be a very welcome thing.

Hello. I would just like to say that I may be a little biased in this review. Mr. Delany happened to be my 9th grade English teacher so I have a bit of insight into the background of this book.

Pepperland is wonderful book for anyone who likes a good story based on classic rock. The Beatles and John Lennon are as real characters as Star herself. There is such beautiful insight into the emotions of someone who has lost a loved one and is dealing with grief. One of my favorite books.
Props to Mr. Delaney.

Pamela Jean Cochran, or Star as she would rather be called, lives for her music. After her beloved mother dies, music seems to be the only thing that gets her through the day -- specifically Beatles music. Star's mother loved the Beatles and now their music is all Star has left to remember her by.

When she hears that John Lennon is coming to town, she gives herself a mission. Her mission is to get backstage, meet John Lennon, and give him her mother's fan letter.

Thinking about this mission gets her through the long days of school and therapy. That, and spending time with her best friend, Dooley. Dooley is an amazing artist and Star ends up helping him through some pretty rough times.

This book was really, really good, and I made a personal connection with it. PEPPERLAND may cause you to reach for a few tissues and by the end of it you'll walk away with a "wow, life isn't so bad after all" attitude.

Reviewed by: Michaela Pallante aka "Mickey"

Being a female guitarist, I was able to relate to this book very well. Star reminded me a lot of myself. The book starts off in an awkward yet intriguing way and slowly, you start to put it together and see what's going on. Towards the middle, after Star and her friend Dooley take the guitar to Teri, at a guitar repair shop, the book gets really moody and might be boring for some readers. Some of the pages I had to force myself to read...some serious dead moments.

However, the book becomes very lively concerning Dooley and his love for art. He ends painting a picture of Star and puts in an exhibit. But afterwhile, it was all over and the book picked up again. Star and Dooley end up falling in love, Star doesn't get to meet John Lennon but she ends up resolving some other issues including finally writing a song for her mother in the end. I thought that was great, even though considering I'm a Lennon fan, I would have appreciated if she did meet him. However, it all worked out for the better and Delaney redeemed himself in the end, and put together an awesome book.

"...in my life, I've loved them all..." John Lennon, 1965 from "In My Life"

This sadly, movingly beautiful 1965 John Lennon classic is the song that underscores this book. Set in 1980, the year John Lennon died, the story is one of death, loss, coping and art. It seems sadly a propos that the story takes place in 1980.

The protagonist, Star (not Ringo Starr) is a Lennonphile who identifies strongly with Beatle lyrics, most especially those penned by John Lennon. The 16-year-old copes with the death of her mother and with a psychiatrist as well as bullies and a father with a love for motorcycles.

Star, per her therapist's request writes a song for her mother. In so doing, she finds a letter her mother wrote to John Lennon in 1965 (the year before she, Star was born); a guitar and an obvious love for the Beatles among her personal effects. Star has the guitar repaired and identifies with John's 1968 Beatle classic, "Julia" and solo work, "Mother," both of which are about John's mother Julia. Star takes John's maternal history to heart; she uses this as a springboard to writing the lyrics to her song. As George Harrison said in his 1976 solo work, "This Song," there is "nothing tricky about it...without you, there is no point to this song."

Star and her love for Lennon Help! her down the Long & Winding Road towards coping and acceptance. This is an exceptional work.

Pamela Jean Cochran (a.k.a. Star) is sixteen when her mother dies from breast cancer. Struggling to find a way to cope, she turns to her music hoping that if she can write a song to honor her mother then she can finally let go of her anger and pain. While going through her mother's belongings, Star discovers a fan letter to John Lennon and a vintage Gibson guitar--now in need of repair. These two items are the catalyst to Star's healing process. Set in the fall of 1980, Delaney's novel is a wonderful exploration of grief, anger, loss, and confusion. Star and Dooley, her best friend, are remarkably well-developed characters. And Delaney's use of language is impressive. One striking passage occurs when Dooley shows Star his new drawing:

"Before me is a portrait of a young woman. She is strikingly beautiful, her face nearly white and her cheekbones shaded in an ice pale blue. Her eyes are large and pretty, but dark and a little wounded-looking. She's not really smiling. Behind her is a background of burgundy and violet. Within this background, and over the girl's face, are crossing lines, like the squares on a sheet of graph paper. It's as if little parts of her have been painted on hundreds of tiles, and the tiles have assembled themselves to make this image. Except in the upper left-hand corner, the pattern breaks down. The tiles are scattered, the lines no longer forming perfect angles. The pieces seem to be falling, cascading into place. The girl is in the process of becoming a complete picture...And then I understand. I see it. The girl with the wounded eyes, the girl who doesn't quite smile, the girl made of a thousand pieces that are falling, at last, into their proper places...She's me" (105-106).

We love mr. Delaney's Misfits series, but Pepperland is much much more, deeper and so believable. The characters are likable and the music theme ties everything together. The book ended exactly as it should have, nothing was out of place or over the top. I really look forward to a sequel. This book is great.