KING OF THE CREEPS by Steven Banks
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  5/9/06
    Publisher:  Knopf
    Reviewed by:  Long Nguyen
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Tom Johnson is short, has a big nose, and even has frizzy hair to top it all off. Put quite simply, in Tom's own words,
    he's a Creep. Set against the immediate post-JFK assassination in 1963, Tom finds himself on his way to a local
    bridge to jump off following a traumatic Creep-related event. But on his way he finds himself staring across at a record
    of some folk singer that's short, has a big nose, and frizzy hair to top it all off -- Bob Dylan!

    Inspired by his sudden revelation of his resemblance to the legendary folk singer, Tom decides to become a folk
    singer, too, and make something of himself. He buys a guitar and only has time to learn one chord before a number
    of things happen, one of which is his meeting Angelina: the groovy, deep poet who might actually be interested in him.
    Before Tom knows what has happened, he and his one-chord show have a chance to do something big, something
    important, something Tom doesn't know if even he wants to do.

    In his fun and straight-ahead debut novel, Steven Banks tells the story of a new kind of protagonist who must decide
    for himself what the right thing to do is. KING OF THE CREEPS is a story of lame right-wing jokes, the New York
    folk scene in Greenwich Village, learning to speak up for yourself, getting the girl, and ultimately deciding your own
    fate -- and making it count. Banks himself knows twenty-eight guitar chords.

    Cheers to S.B.
King of the Creeps
by Steven Banks