Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Review Date: SEPTEMBER 01, 2005
Publisher:Scholastic
Pages: 288
Price (hardback): $16.99
Publication Date: 9/1/2005 0:00:00
ISBN: 0-439-75519-0
ISBN (hardback): 0-439-75519-0
Category: CHILDREN'S
First-time author Sonnenblick has pulled off a rare feat. Not only did he make this story about a 13-year-old boy, whose little brother contracts leukemia, real and raw and heart-rending, he made it hysterically funny as well. Steven Alper, who is untalented in sports but terrific on the drums, is giving his pesky five-year-old brother Jeffrey oatmeal when Jeffrey, who has been complaining recently that his "parts hurt," falls off a stool and gets a nosebleed that just won't quit. That night Steven finds out that Jeffrey has leukemia. Although the plot—Steven's stressed-out family has no energy for him and he becomes a source of strength for his brother while simultaneously falling apart himself—is conventional, the subsidiary characters at home, school and the hospital have a flesh-and-blood reality and the situations ring true. Moreover, the reader falls in love with the brothers, laughing and crying by turns and rooting for both of them until it almost hurts. (Fiction. 12+)

Booklist Starred Review 9/15/05
\\\\\\\\*STAR* Sonnenblick, Jordan. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. Sept. 2005. Scholastic, $16 (0-439-75519-0).
Gr. 5–8. Steven Alper is a typical eighth-grader––smarter than some, certainly a better drummer than most, but with the usual girl problems and family trials. Then, on October 7, his five-year-old brother Jeffery falls, has a nosebleed that doesn't stop, and is diagnosed with leukemia. All hell breaks loose. Mrs. Alper's days and nights revolve around getting Jeffrey to his chemotherapy treatments, and Mr. Alper retreats into a shell, coming out only occasionally to weep over the mounting medical bills. Steven becomes the forgotten son, who throws himself into drumming, even as he quits doing his homework and tries to keep his friends from finding out about Jeffrey's illness. A story that could have morphed into melodrama is saved by reality, rawness, and the wit Sonnenblick infuses to Steven's first-person voice. The recriminations, cares, and nightmares that come with a cancer diagnosis are all here, underscored by vomiting, white blood cell counts, and chemotherapy ports. Yet, this is also about regrouping, solidarity, love, and hope. Most important for a middle-grade audience, Sonneblick shows that even in the midst of tragedy, life goes on, love can flower, and that the one thing you can always change is yourself. ––Ilene Cooper

Kliatt 9/1/05
SONNENBLICK, Jordan. Drums, girls & dangerous pie. Scholastic. 273p. Steven is in the 8th grade; he's a talented drummer who is part of an all-city jazz band, one of the youngest members. He's got a crush on a beautiful girl, a math whiz; but another girl seems more interested in him. That's the drums and girls part of the title. The "dangerous pie" is more difficult to explain, but it is something outrageous Steven's little brother Jeffrey says. Jeffrey is a precocious kindergarten student, who drives Steven nuts, but Steven doesn't realize at the beginning of the story just how important Jeffrey is in his life. Amidst the quite funny wisecracks and comments (Steven is considered a good musician with a wicked sense of humor) comes tragedy when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia. Everything changes: to manage the cancer therapy, the mother has to quit her teaching job and thus the family income is cut in half; the father retreats into a non-communicative shell of grief; Steven is troubled and angry; little Jeffrey endures painful and nauseating treatments. Months later, everyone in the family is exhausted but learning to communicate, to pull toget