So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother [Paperback]

Micol Ostow (Author), David Ostow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2009

Despite his dreams of hipster rock glory, Ari Abramson's band, the Tribe, is more white bread than indie-cred. Made up of four suburban teens from a wealthy Jewish school, their Mötley Crüe is about as hardcore as SAT prep and scripture studies.

But after a one-song gig at a friend's Bar Mitzvah—a ska cover of "Hava Nagilah"—the Tribe's popularity erupts overnight. Now, Ari is forced to navigate a minefield of inflated egos, misplaced romance, and the shallowness of indie-rock elitism. It's a hard lesson in the complex art of playing it cool.

So Punk Rock is...

 a 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teen Readers

"Awesome. Brilliant. Hilarious. So Punk Rock is so good!"
—Blake Nelson, author of Girl

"A downright hilarious read."—Elizabeth Bird, author of School Library Journal's A Fuse #8 Production

"[A] cutting-edge prose-graphic hybrid. . .smart, laugh-out-loud witty."—Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Tantalize and Eternal

A Booklist Top 10 Arts Books for Youth (2009) and Top 10 Religious Books for Youth (2009). 

For more information, visit: www.kosherpunkrock.com.

Other links for So Punk Rock:

The Tribe Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/tribenj

Ari on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/rockonari

Reena on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/NJchoirGRRL

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Awesome. Brilliant. Hilarious. So Punk Rock is so good!" -- Blake Nelson

About the Author

Micol Ostow (New York City) has written more than thirty-five published works for children and young adults. So Punk Rock was inspired by the thirteen years of Jewish day school that she and her brother David experienced. Micol is currently pursuing an MFA in writing through Vermont College of Fine Arts and teaching YA writing up and down the Eastern seaboard. For more information, visit www.MicolOstow.com or www.KosherPunkRock.com.

Illustrator David Ostow (Hoboken, New Jersey) was trained as an architect.  He currently works at a large design firm in New York City and also illustrates on a freelance basis.  So Punk Rock is his first literary endeavor. Visit David at www.DavidOstow.com or at www.KosherPunkRock.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Flux; 1 edition (July 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738714712
• ISBN-13: 978-0738714714
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,156,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Micol Ostow is half Puerto Rican, half Jewish, half editor, half writer, half chocolate, half peanut butter. When she is under deadline, she is often half asleep. She believes that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts except in the case of Chubby Hubby ice cream. She lives in New York City, where she practices liberal consumption of coffee, cheese, and chocolate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Such a great laugh, August 21, 2009

By 

Sarah Woodard (Bremerton, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother (Paperback)

Despite his dreams of hipster rock glory, Ari Abramson's band, the Tribe, is more white bread than indie-cred. Made up of four suburban teens from a wealthy Jewish school, their Mötley Crüe is about as hardcore as SAT prep and scripture studies.
But after a one-song gig at a friend's Bar Mitzvah--a ska cover of "Hava Nagilah"--the Tribe's popularity erupts overnight. Now, Ari is forced to navigate a minefield of inflated egos, misplaced romance, and the shallowness of indie-rock elitism. It's a hard lesson in the complex art of playing it cool.
So Punk Rock is one of the funniest books that I have read in a while. Ari is a sweet and naive person. I found his crush on Sari to be predictable. Jonas... really annoyed me. I loved Reena, she was funny and sincere. Yossi was entertaining and unpredictable. The plot was full of twist and turns. Overall it surprised me. Micol Ostow is a great writer. Her book was really original and had a special spark. David Ostow's comics were amazing and the simplicity was great. I really enjoyed this book and you'll love it, if you want a quick laugh.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Rocks!, July 19, 2009

By 

Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother (Paperback)

Ready for a new read? Not sure if you want a regular novel or a graphic novel next? Pick up SO PUNK ROCK (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), a novel by Micol Ostow with art by David Ostow, and learn how you can rock on - in a totally kosher way, of course.

Ari Abramson wants to be cool. He thinks being in a band will help, so he recruits three other kids from his Jewish day school: his best friend Jonas, who is cool without even trying, a classmate named Yossi because he has drums, and Yossi's younger sister, Reena, who has a surprisingly good singing voice. Together, they form the Tribe. Soon, they can play a ska version of Hava Nagila. Kind of.

So Punk Rock totally rocks. I dig this hybrid novel. It's funny, it's thoughtful, and it's just plain cool. It will definitely appeal to teen guys AND girls. It reads like a 'normal' book, with chapters and Ari's first-person narration, plus it has black-and-white illustrations: sidebars, pictures of the band members, doodles and lists from Ari's notebook when they're trying to come up with band names, and a hilarious glossary.

But don't take my word for it: Read an excerpt from the book and check out some of the illustrations at the website kosherpunkrock.com

The creators of So Punk Rock are siblings. Micol Ostow makes Ari a down-to-Earth every-guy, easy to relate to and befriend, and David Ostow makes art that will catch your eye and crack you up. How cool is it that a brother and sister teamed up to make something like this together? (And can you imagine what might happen if they collaborated on a project with another fantastic sister-brother author-artist team, Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, the creators of the Babymouse graphic novels?) To put it simply, the Ostows rock, and so does So Punk Rock.

And now I'm singing Hava Nagila again...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun (and I learned some things, too!), March 22, 2010

By 

M. Knapp "Maggie Knapp" (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother (Paperback)

I was intrigued by the title of the book, and didn't really know much about it when I picked it up. It starts out with black and white "graphic novel" format, but then changes to a traditional book, with occasional (and very amusing) pages of comics inserted from time to time. Readers meet Ari Abramson, a high schooler at Leo R. Gittleman Jewish Day School. He has a "kosher" (cool) friend Jonas (whose cursing is inventively toned down in most cases) and a burning desire to start a band. Yossi is invited to join because he owns a drum set, and Yossi's sister Reena sings. Ari is a good-hearted and typical teen, and the large dose of Jewish culture that is woven into the story really worked well for me. Props to the authors for their helpful "Glossary of Jewish, Musical and Other Esoteric Terms" at the end of the book.