The Rise and Fall of the Gallivanters
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
In Portland in 1983, girls are disappearing. Noah, a teen punk with a dark past, becomes obsessed with finding out where they’ve gone—and he’s convinced their disappearance has something to do with the creepy German owners of a local brewery, the PfefferBrau Haus. Noah worries about the missing girls as a way of avoiding the fact that something’s seriously wrong with his best friend, Evan. Could it be the same dark force that’s pulling them all down?
When the PfefferBrau Haus opens its doors for a battle of the bands, Noah pulls his band, the Gallivanters, back together in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. But there’s a new addition to the band: an enigmatic David Bowie look-alike named Ziggy. And secrets other than where the bodies are buried will be revealed. From Edgar-nominated author M. J. Beaufrand, this is a story that gets to the heart of grief and loss while also being hilarious, fast paced, and heartbreaking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eighteen-year-old Noah and his friends are punk musicians growing up near Portland, Ore., in the early 1980s. Noah worries that he will grow up to be like his abusive father, his best friend Evan's debilitating headaches are getting worse and girls all over town are disappearing, possibly at the hands of the German brothers who operate a big local brewery. When Ziggy, a David Bowie-esque stranger, mysteriously appears in Noah's life, he persuades the teen to enter his band in a contest at the brewery and try to "save the city from the evil brewing at PfefferBrau Haus." Beaufrand (Dark River) is a talented writer, but the book's tone is scattered: some of the people in Noah's life, like hippie burnout/record store owner JoJo, are more caricature than character, and the various tragedies the characters are negotiating disrupt the rhythm of the book. These punk protagonists are easy to root for, but too many simultaneous notes leave the book striking a discordant chord. Ages 14 up.
