Peter BognanniReseñas

Started listening to the audiobook off and on yesterday. Not sure if it's the format or what, but I could only get through the 4th chapter of nine. I found that I could care less if this poor boy was able to keep his new friend, if they were able to make a punk rock band(or even if he learned how to play an instrument), if granny lived much longer, really had psychic abilities when she slept or if she levitated, or if the boy's crush Meredith actually gave him a chance or not. I returned this audiobook to my library last night. Bored though.

I think this book would appeal to movie buffs with its male protagonist, references to movies, and use of movie terms.

I really enjoyed reading this book. This book first got my attention with its eye-catching cover and great title. After reading the book's description, I knew that I had to give this book a try and I am glad that I did. Once I started reading this book, the pages seemed to fly by and before I knew I had finished the entire book in a single morning. It really was the perfect book to lose myself in for just a little while.

Ethan loves movies. His life has been filled with movies and watches at least one movie every day. Ethan works at the small Green Street Cinema, which is not your average theatre. Ethan actually serves the role of manager at the theatre since the real boss has been missing in action for some time. This theatre plays lesser-known films and caters to a certain clientele and has more a few issues.

Ethan was a great character. He has had a hard time dealing with his father's sudden death just a few years earlier. He has really been in a holding pattern with the cinema being his refuge. I liked Ethan more and more as the story progressed and I learned more of his history. It was great to see him start to deal with the things going on in his life.

Ethan was best friends with a girl named Raina when he was younger. This was before she was discovered by an agent and was thrust into stardom. When she finds that fame isn't exactly what she wanted, she goes home and is suddenly back in her old friend's life. I liked Raina. She was really down to earth and had her own issues to deal with. I thought that Ethan and Raina were good for each other and loved how they came together to work on a problem.

When the cinema is scheduled to close, Ethan and the rest of the crew work to find a way to keep it going. I loved the quirky group of characters that worked at the theatre. They were all very different but as a group, they worked well together. The cinema almost felt like another character with all of its flaws, including a rather large rodent issue.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a very well written story about finding yourself while fighting for the things you care about and learning to move on. The book is filled with great movie quotes and references that add to the charm of the story. I would not hesitate to read more of Peter Bognanni's writing in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Penguin Publishing Group - Dial Books.

Seventeen year old Ethan is a serious film buff and the ad hoc manager of a quirky movie theater. Three years earlier his world was rocked when his father died suddenly and his best friend became a famous movie star and moved away without a word. After finding solace in spending all of his time managing the movie theater, his world is falling apart again because of the threat of the theater being shut down. Cinema lovers will appreciate the film allusions, and there is a certain amount of suspense regarding the fate of the theater. Most compelling, though, is the character development of the interesting folks populating this book.

As the author writes, this book is about "...a seventeen-year-old guy from Minnesota who is maybe in love with his best friend, mourning his dead father, in charge of many dysfunctional humans,…unsure what to do with the rest of his life and pouring his remaining energies into saving a movie theater nobody cares about." Ethan manages a decrepit classic movie theater, the Green Street, that is slated to be demolished. His father was a film professor and he taught Ethan to love movies at the Green Street. With his father gone, Ethan has nothing else...until Raina, the girl of his dreams abruptly leaves her Hollywood film set and returns to her hometown. Raina never called when Ethan's dad died and Ethan does not know if they are still friends or if his amorous feelings are mutual.
This Book is Not Yet Rated contains a cast of quirky characters including a foul mouthed octogenarian movie house organ player and a projectionist who has lived in the projection booth for 10 years. Film vocabulary is interspersed between every other chapter. Chapter One is the ‘establishing shot’. The next few chapters reel you in. Ethan's obsession with the Green Street and Raina's uncertainty about her budding Hollywood career are equally absorbing. Their relationship, with its ups and downs adds icing on the cake. The efforts the group takes to save the doomed theater are unique. Bognanni's sophomore novel is quirky and fun and film buffs, especially those loving Steve McQueen, will totally enjoy it.

*I won a copy of this book via Goodreads*

Given that I fell in love with someone after meeting them on the internet (I even married him!) you might think that I would be more understanding of the intensity of Tess's grief over Jonah's death. But, seeing as the flashbacks to her brief meeting and interaction with him are so fleeting and not really built upon I had a hard time feeling for her, or connecting with her. Or Jonah, for that matter. She was so sarcastic. Something I would usually appreciate in a character, but given the heavy subject matter, it came off as too brisk and soured her for me.

I did like her creativity and thoughtfulness at her plan for Mamie's end of life celebration. Although that whole subplot with her dad and his strange funeral business, felt somewhat unnecessary. I feel like the author could have used Grace as the connector, since she was already involved in the alternative funeral arrangements business and left that business idea for Tess's dad out of things.

Daniel is a sweet character, but his and Tess's instalove really irked me. I liked the concept of why there was the connection between them, but even that couldn't save it for me. There's a scene when they are in Italy where I literally threw the book down and went "Really!?!" because it's so cliche.

And there's also the strangeness of Grace and Tess's Dad. Their "relationship" is told in tiny snippets, and then Grace admits to Tess, when she's sent to Italy to collect her that she thinks she may be in love with him.

The plot as a whole is interesting, but for a book about the death of a kid wreaking havoc on the lives of those around him, I felt like there should have been at least a bit more Jonah in the story. Genuine Jonah, too. Not just recountings of him by the other characters.

It felt like some of the heavier subject matter got glossed over by the subplots, which was disappointing. I do have to say that I really enjoyed the author's writing, though.

Great coming-of-age story about a boy who lives an isolated and home-schooled existince with his eccentric grandmother in a geodesic dome. One day while the Whitcomb family is touring the geodome, Sebastian's grandmother suffers a stroke and is taken to the hospital. This is the catalyst that pushes Sebastian out into the world, specifically into the Whitcomb family. Janice (the mother) is still reeling from a divorce, and her son Jared is recovering from heart transplant surgery. Jared finds Sebastian's upbringing extremely weird, if not cruel, and introduces him to the joys of punk rock. The two become friends and decide to form a punk rock band. The character of Sebastian is amusing, speaking like a scientist much of the time, almost as if he sees the world from an outsider's perspective. Jared is the rebel, full of anger and humiliation at his physical limitations and weakness, but also a very lonely, confused and hurt boy. The friendship between Sebastian and Jared is the heart of the story, as well as Sebastian's growing crush on Jared's older sister. I really liked this story and look forward to more from this author. Recommended to anyone who enjoys quality young adult fiction.

Sebastian lives in a geodesic dome with his grandmother who is homeschooling him on the teachings of futurist philosopher R. Buckminster Fuller. When Sebastian's grandmother has a stroke, he is thrown into a relationship with the Whitcomb family that opens his eyes to friendship, punk rock, and first love. Jared Whitcomb is a swearing, chain-smoking heart transplant recipient who befriends Sebastian and begins to teach him about all the things he's been missing: junk food, guitar music, and Jared's sister, Meredith. Jared decides that he and Sebastian are going to form a band and compete in the Methodist church's talent contest.

In many regards, The House of Tomorrow isn't a spectacular book. It follows a formula that has become trite in fiction. The story largely rolls out as most readers would expect from a coming-of-age story. Every time a new character pops up, you can guess the role they'll play. Stylistically, The House of Tomorrow doesn't stand out.

Despite its lack of surprises, Peter Bognanni's debut novel is still an interesting and entertaining read. Though it sticks with the formula and is peopled with predictable characters, the plot itself and the characters themselves are a joy to watch. This is a story about punk rock, geodesic domes, hero worship, education, and friendship. There's nothing formulaic about the individual aspects of the story, just the way they interact with one another.

Bognanni does a wonderful job crafting main characters who are believably human despite their strange circumstances. On the flip side, many of the secondary characters are used for irony and laughs. They cross lines, particularly in regards to religion, that make them overdrawn stereotypes. I get it, religion—especially youth groups—can be hypocritical and comical, but the lack of a character who countered this stereotype forced a lopsided story in this regard.

The House of Tomorrow is not one of the more memorable stories I've read of late, but it does stand out. Bognanni nails many of the aspects of adolescence that other authors miss. No, there aren't many surprises or unforgettable scenes, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the ride. I loved these characters and I really enjoyed watching their lives unfold. Despite the heaviness of the plot at times, The House of Tomorrow was a fun read.

I listened to the recorded version of House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni. This book was on the Alex Award list in 2011 and it caught my eye then. When I finally got around to reading it, the novel did not disappoint. The story is about a boy, Sebastian, who has been home schooled and raised according to the strict principles of his grandmother. The grandmother was a disciple of Buckminster Fuller and she and her grandson live in the first geodesic dome home built in Iowa. The grandmother has a stroke and Sebastian finds himself kicked out of the house for a short time due to her mood swings. Fortunately, he has made a friend when a family came to tour the house. Jared, is the recipient of a transplanted heart, and is a punk rock fan. Jared turns Sebastian on to the world of punk rock and Sebastian finds friendship and resolution through his involvement with this misfit family. This was a book with lots of life's lessons that was not pedantic.

My biggest question about this book is why was it published as an adult novel? It is clearly a young adult novel and should have been marketed as such. Both of the major characters are under the age of 16 and the entire book is about typical teenage angst topics. Even the fact that the protagonist has to deal with the aging and end-of-life-care of his grandmother is typical of many teens of today. I contrast that with the other book I read this last weekend that was published as a YA novel that had no major characters under the age of 18. It was not a YA novel and yet was marketed as such. I think this causes real problems with the genre. Parents and teachers simply can't trust the YA label anymore. And neither can readers.½

unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised.

I didn't expect this to be a young adult novel when I borrowed it from the library, but it was. I loved it nevertheless.

This novel has a fairly interesting premise. Basically, there is a boy who lives in an isolated dome in Iowa who grows up mainly without parents with just his grandma until, at the age of 16, his grandma has a stroke while some people from town have arrived to take a tour of the dome. It's the first chance the protagonist really has at interacting with people from the outside world and he finds out really quickly he's been very sheltered, especially from the likes of punk rock.

In many ways, this is a coming of age book...a quirky discovery of teenage humanity and all the gritty angsty music that have defined generations after generations from the Sex Pistols to The Dead Kennedys to The Misfits to Fugazi. It's not an encyclopedia by any means but those familiar a little bit with the history of punk rock will appreciate the novel much more.

In another way, this book is about family, about life's unfair cruelties, about religion, about wanting to be a world changer, and even a little about religion. But, of course, it's also about girls. As John Cusack would say, "It was about girls, right?"

Anyhow, this book probably won't change your life but it's thoroughly enjoyable all the same. If you have any idiosyncratic teenagers in your family that are getting into music, especially punk rock, buy him/her a copy.


Memorable Quotes:

pg 1 "Every single human being is part of a grand universal plan. That's what my Nana always says. We're not alive just to lounge around and contemplate our umbilicus. We're metaphysical beings!"

pg. 57 Sebastian buys a Misfits album from The Record Collector:

"I've made a selection," I said.
"Amazing" he said. "Way to go."
He surveyed my choice. "Oh." he said, "you have to be eighteen to buy this one.
He handed the disc back to me.
"Eighteen years old?"
"Yeah," he said. "They measure age in years now, man."
I turned it over in my hands. There was a sticker on the front that warned about explicit content. The man ignored me now, pretending I wasn't there.
"It's my first one," I said.
The man broke his trance. "Your first what?"
"My first compact disc."
"You've never bought an album before?" he asked.
I shook my head. He looked like he was going to choke on his sandwich. And, for a minute, he seemed unsure what to do. He looked around the store, his eyes shifting back and forth. Then he looked behind him at a door to the back room.
"Jesus." he said.
I watched him intently.
I handed the disc back to him and he punched a series of buttons on the register. I placed my bill on the counter and watched it disappear into the cash drawer. Twenty dollars. The man shook his head, uttering more profanity to himself. He ripped the explicit content sticker off the cover and made my change as fast as he could.
"Now get out of here," he said, "You've seriously compromised my job, man."
I obliged him, walking a straight path out the door. The fact that I possessed no form of a disc player did not even occur to me at that moment. I had just known, somehow, that I was supposed to purchase the album. It had been there to be found by me."


pg. 90 "Do you know who Napoleon was?" he asked.
"He was the emperor of France," I said.
"Wrong," said Jared. "He was the first punk rocker."

I loved this book and don't know why I put off reading it so long. It's a brilliant story of a teen named Sebastian, living with his grandmother in a futuristic house. Sebastian is sheltered by his grandmother who is a follower of a dead guru. When Sebastian meets a "normal" family, he does everything to be around them, getting caught up in their own drama.
This book is so well-written and very poignant. Sebastian will stay with you long after you finish this book

The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni is a story about Sebastian Prendergast; a boy who lives in a glass dome with his eccentric grandmother who he calls Nana. Nana kept Sebastian quite separated from the outside world because she wanted him to help fulfill the visions of the futuristic philisopher R. Buckminister Fuller. But, after Nana falls ill he finds himself pulled into the lives of the Whitcomb family which consists of a overstressed mother named Janice, a son named Jared who just recently had his heart replaced and a daughter named Meredith who has slightly whorish tendencies.

This book is a great read. If you’re looking for humorous book that has a lot of heart then this is the book for you. The characters are so well developed that by the end you can’t help but feel personally connected to them all. I especially love Jared Whitcomb; he is the most blunt and unintentionally funny character I have ever encountered in a book.

All I can say is; if you read it, you’ll love it.

This is a strange yet oddly real and touching story that explores coming-of-age in a non-traditional family environment, friendship and familial bonds against all odds.

Through first-person narration, we get to know Sebastian Prendergrast, who was orphaned very young and has since been raised by Nana, his off-beat grandmother who lives in a geodesic dome home in Iowa and is a die-hard adherent to the philosophy of R. Buckminster Fuller. When Nana has a stroke, Sebastian is thrust into the world beyond his Geodesic Dome Home where he truly learns the meaning of friendship when he meets Jared Whitcomb, a teenage heart transplant recipient. Together, the two social outcasts learn to face both their present and their future through, of all things, their own punk rock band!

This is truly a unique story that is wonderfully weird, funny, bittersweet and uplifting…a great debut novel!

The Short of It:

Brilliant, beautifully written and touching in a way that surprised me.

The Rest of It:

After losing both parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Sebastian Prendergast lives with his eccentric grandmother Nana in a geodesic dome. Nana, who studied with the infamous R. Buckminster Fuller (architect, philosopher and futurist), continues to share his teachings by conducting tours of their very unique home.

Most people visiting Iowa come for other reasons, but every once in awhile they have a visitor or two, and that’s enough to keep Nana happy. Sebastian spends his days polishing the dome and as he’s gazing down upon the town below, it occurs to him that he hasn’t seen much of it, or the rest of the world for that matter. You see, the dome acts as a barrier to all things. It protects him, yet it also imprisons him. In his sensible shoes and conservative outdated clothing, Sebastian finds pleasure in simple things, but he secretly desires more. When his Nana falls ill, he meets a family that helps him realize how special he really is.

This is a wonderful story and includes the most interesting cast of characters I’ve encountered in a long time. They are terrifically flawed. I seriously loved them all, which I almost never say. Bognanni manages to make them vulnerable in beautiful, subtle ways. The story is funny and sad and touching without being overly worked. The transitions were effortless, or seemed so anyway.

I adored this book and this is Bognanni’s first novel! It blows my mind. You know that feeling you get after reading a page or two of a new book? The feeling where you just know that it’s going to be great? I had that feeling throughout the book and the ending did not disappoint. There is so much more to say, but it would be better to experience it on your own.

I didn't think I would like it but the more that I got into the book the more I enjoyed each of the characters' personalities. I especially found the hostile teenagers' attitude to be hilarious. The way that the two family found each other and became so intertwined into each other life was very interesting. Although they both have very abnormal family life, they connected in that way and helped each other. Also I liked it that the main character slowly finds out bits and pieces of his grandmother's history and the true story of the guy that she practically worships. We see how she takes what someone believes in to a whole different level of dedication and we find out later that he actually didn't want any of his groupies to see him in the light where he would have all the answers. He understood that he is human and he doesn't have all the answers, I liked it that it was explained in the book the way that it was. The whole time reading it, I thought that he was just really crazy and arrogant about knowing how human beings ought to live but it wasn't like that at all.

This book actually makes you think, but makes you laugh and is very modern. There are just so many dynamic views to this story.

One Saturday night (technically Sunday morning), I was so very tempted to get in my car, set the GPS for Minneapolis and go. I wasn't finished with The House of Tomorrow yet, but I so very much wanted to find Pete Bognanni and thank him. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the reality of this plan sank in pretty quickly. I never even got out of bed. That doesn't negate the fact that I love this book. It's my new little gem.

The House of Tomorrow tells the story of Sebastian Prendergrast, a teenage boy who has spent much of his life alone with his eccentric grandmother is a geodesic dome in Iowa. He is homeschooled on the brilliance of Nana's hero and inspiration, R. Buckminster Fuller. While Nana and Sebastian hold paying tours of their home, it isn't until Nana has a stroke that Sebastian experiences any meaningful interaction with other people. It is then that he meets the Whitlow family, specifically Janice Whitlow's son Jared and daughter Meredith. No one knew it at the time, but this meeting would bring a whirlwind of chaos and punk music to everyone's life and would ultimately show Sebastian what greatness truly means.

I have never been to Iowa, but I've been to Sebastian and Jared's hometown. I'm not exactly sure how that makes sense, but the small suburb of Grand Rapids, MI where I grew up couldn't be more similar. There were the same types of hardware stores and churches. There were the same types of parents trying to shield their children from a world that is more frightening to them than to their kids. As such, they were protecting their children from the wrong things. However, it's only in that insular innocence that Sebastian and Jared could have been born and dreamed their great dreams. Sebastian's near complete isolation from anything other than his grandmother and her teachings of Fuller's philosophy allowed him to experience all that the world, as fashioned in that small Iowa town, with awkward curiosity and unexpected thrills. Jared's family life was not nearly as stable and sterile as Sebastian's, but he needed the innocence and pure enthusiasm Sebastian brought into their friendship to breathe life into his music. Sebastian was his willing copilot, the only person that didn't treat him like damaged goods. As they influenced one another, the stage was set for the punk rock adventure of a lifetime.

Peter Bognanni reminds me so much of Douglas Coupland. I'm now nearly twenty years older than I was when I first read Generation X and Shampoo Planet, but The House of Tomorrow took me to that same place inside. Bognanni's sense of humor, pacing, subject matter and tone burrowed a nest inside of me for The House of Tomorrow that only Coupland has done before. It's the power of reading novels true to the cultural make up of the world as you see it. I hope that both Coupland and Bognanni's work remains popular for years to come, but I believe they wrote especially for people like me. I can relate to characters in so many of the novels I've read, but it's not very often where I feel that characters could relate to me. Sebastian and Jared would understand me, even with our age difference. They would intuitively know my dreams and motivations in the same way that Andy, Dag and Claire did from Generation X. Reading about cultural if not contemporary kindred spirits is a powerful experience.

When reading The House of Tomorrow, I felt such exuberance. It was this sheer joy gave me the impulse to hop in my car for a 19 hour road trip. Not long after I finished, my daughter said something about Jeff Kinney while waving her first Wimpy Kid book in the air that perfectly sums up the way I feel. Picture me holding my copy of The House of Tomorrow up high as I announce to the world, "I love Peter Bognanni! He made this book!" It is a wonderful thing that authors can inspire that same passion whether their readers are 6 or *uh hem* over decades older than 6. May we all be lucky enough to continue to discover Jeff Kinneys, Douglas Couplands and Peter Bognannis when we're 86.½

The geodesical is all that Sebastian has ever known, but one day when the Whitcomb family comes by for a tour things change. Sebastian’s grandmother has a stroke and is rushed off to the hospital. Jared Whitcomb finds Sebastian’s upbringing to be cruel and thus takes it upon himself to introduce him to a new world–the world of punk rock. Soon the two are friends and together form a punk band: The Rash.

This was an incredibly interesting novel and I’m shocked that I didn’t hear anything about it until now. Sebastian is such a fascinating and sad character. Fascinating in the way he views the world and speaks much like a scientist. Sad in his forbidding and unusual upbringing. And then there’s Jared, who due to his weakness and sickness–and his parent’s divorce–is a very angry, hurt and lonely boy. The emotions expressed throughout this book are so real, you cannot help but feel them. It’s relatable even if you have never experienced their particular situations.

Definitely passing this along to my younger brother as I think he’d love it. Marvelously done, Mr. Bognanni, looking forward to more from you, sir. Recommended to fans of Nick Hornby. 5/5.

http://www.read-all-over.net/fiction/ya/book-review-the-house-of-tomorrow-by-pet...

If you like quirky, offbeat books similar to authors like Nick Hornby and Carl Hiaasen, THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW is for you. In this coming of age novel, the main character, Sebastian emerges from his isolated cocoon into the world, eyes wide. Living in a tourist attraction (a geodesic dome) and being homeschooled by his strong-willed grandmother didn't prepare him for the life of a real teen, filled with angst, lust, soda and sugar, and punk rock music. So, when his grandmother has a stroke and is unable to run her house like she used to, Sebastian is thrust into the world with little preparation. But Jared, a wannabe punk rocker/tough guy, is there to help Sebastian discover all the craziness outside the geodesic dome.

The characters were multi-dimensional and layered; interesting people I enjoyed spending time with. Sebastian is sweet and good-hearted, completely socially awkward because of his homeschooling. It's fun seeing him interact with the world--like a traveler exploring a completely foreign land or a scientist on a new planet. He's so different than the "average" teen (is there really any such thing as an average teen?), since his upbringing didn't allow for much interaction beyond the odd tourist.

When he meets Jared, they're both intrigued by one another (though Jared does his best not to show it) and, at first, believe that they're polar opposites. Their relationship and growing friendship pull the story forward. Jared's a great character--a realistically flawed teen who, under his tough exterior, is looking for a friend. It was pretty cool how punk rock music helped them connect and explore their differences and similarities. Oh, and then there was the grandmother. She was a trip - a futurist with ties to Buckminster Fuller (yes, I had to look him up. He was a real person, an engineer, author, designer, and inventor. Very interesting.).

THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW is a surprising novel, written in a strong voice with great one-liners and eccentric characters.

I have never read a book while listening to loud, rowdy music. The House of Tomorrow changed all that. It made me. Filled with punk rock references and teen angst, House of Tomorrow deserved to be devoured while The Ramones pulsed through my head.

One of the best things about House of Tomorrow is that it is both a coming of age story and a story about family. Peter Bognanni wrote about Sebastian-a very sheltered boy-and it is this isolation that allows Sebastian to see the things we miss. Sebastian loves his freedom, but he ends up loving family more. Who couldn’t love a book with a message like that??

Filled with a great cast of characters and complete with an adorable tale of teenage desire, The House of Tomorrow is a great read for teens and adults who can’t believe they are so old.

Raised in near isolation and homeschooled by his grandmother, Sebastian Prendergast is in for a big shock when he encounters the "real world". Sebastian lives in a geodesic dome called the House of Tomorrow in a small town Iowa. Not only has Sebastian never been to school before, but his teachings were primarily based on the ideas of R. Buckminster Fuller (aka Bucky), who was a prolific engineer, author, designer, and futurist. This means that Sebastian has some strange ideas (such as that he can telepathically communicate with his grandmother) and a somewhat detached style of behavior influenced by his lack of human interaction (except for the tourists, who are invited to visit the house and encouraged to spend money in the gift shop).
When his grandmother has a stroke, Sebastian's life intersects with that of the Whitcomb family, who happen to be visiting the house at the time. Janice and her 16-year-old son Jared follow the ambulance to the hospital, setting into motion the main events of the story. Jared, a chain-smoking, abrasive, recent recipient of a heart transplant, is apparently fascinated by Sebastian, though he shows it in typically masculine ways - through swearing, cryptic emails, and ridicule. Through Jared, Sebastian learns about music, processed food, petty crimes, and live outside the dome. Jared's sister, Meredith, teaches Sebastian her own lesson about how love can be shown. Together, the Whitcombs help Sebastian through this difficult time in his life and are no doubt altered by the relationship as well.
Sebastian was somewhat difficult to connect with as a main character. Jared's often caustic remarks were a bit excessive. But overall, the unique setting and circumstances of the story made it a worthwhile read, even if it took a little longer to get into than some coming of age stories. Winner of the Alex Award, this is an adult book with appeal to teens, particularly those who may have an interest in music, not attending school, and/or geodesic domes.

This is one of those books that is ABOUT young adults and isn’t really FOR young adults. The reading level is just too high for most young adults – I’d only give it to a very good reader in the last years of high school.
It is an enjoyable read. Because of his isolated childhood, Sebastian is like an alien from another world when he joins a typical family with two teenagers. He doesn’t understand their relationships to each other and the world. Jarad, the teen boy, drafts him to play in a punk rock band with him and Sebastian tries to understand punk music.
At times funny, at times poignant this is one of those under-noticed books that doesn’t really fit into any of the common categories.

Great hook - a boy being raised in a geodesic dome by his Buckminster Fuller-obsessed grandmother. Bognanni's debut turned out to be a heartfelt coming of age story influenced heavily by the aforementioned futurist and punk rock bands like The Misfits and The Ramones. I liked it. [full review]