King Dork

King Dork by Frank Portman
Original ISBN 978-0-385-73450-9
Delacorte Press, 2006
344 pages

Plot Summary: Tom Henderson is the biggest dork at his high school. But he and his best friend Sam Hellerman hope to change all that when they actually start their rock band…if they can get instruments, decide on a name, and find a drummer, that is. Tom also has to navigate around an associate principal who seems to hate him, a mom and step-father who think he’s suicidal, and classmates that live to torment him at every turn. In the meantime, Tom discovers a cache of novels that belonged to his father who mysteriously died six years earlier. One of the novels Tom finds is The Catcher in the Rye, a book that he chides as teachers loving too much. But within the book, Tom finds clues that could lead him to learning what his father was like as a teen, and possibly answering some questions about his death.

Critical Evaluation: This novel has the MOST authentic teenage voice of any YA novel I’ve ever read. Portman shows his unique and cynical sense of humor with the title of the sections. He shows his humor and love of music in the made-up band names and album titles (Take a look at the “bandography” at the end of the book for a great laugh). There is also a great deal of irony and symbolism contained in the book.

Reader’s Annotation: Tom Henderson hopes that something will change his high school rep. He just never dreamed it would be due to The Catcher in the Rye.

Author Information: Portman, better known as Dr. Frank, was born in 1964. He is a singer and guitarist in a Berkeley (California) punk rock band. King Dork was his first of two YA novels, the other being Andromeda Klein.

His website can be found at http://www.frankportman.com/

Genre: Realistic fiction; Satire

Curriculum Ties: This novel could be used in English Language Arts to illustrate irony, and could be used as a companion piece to The Catcher in the Rye.
Booktalking Ideas: To begin a book talk I would read the “intro” of the novel.

Reading Level / Interest Age: Grades 7-12

Lexile: 1060

Challenge Issues: Sexual references and profanity abound in this novel.

Reason for Item’s Inclusion: I have no idea what drew me to this book. But I loved it!

References:

Frank Portman. (2012, October 11). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Portman