DEBBIE HARRY SINGS IN FRENCH

After a trip to the emergency room occasioned by an adverse drug-alcohol interaction, troubled, Blondie-obsessed Johnny moves from Tampa to South Carolina to stay with his uncle. There he meets Maria, the cool girl at school who shares his love of punk music. He loves everything he hears, but he loves Debbie Harry the most: her voice, her fierce look and the power behind her music. All he can think about is stepping into her clothes and onto the stage. Readers will know that Johnny isn’t queer: He’s crushing on Maria, protecting her from a bullying ex and trying to set things right in his life. Debbie abets his eminently believable transition, acting as much more than obsession—she’s his role model. Brothers’s characters and voices stay right on target along the way; plotting is the only problematic element, specifically the dispersed and winding expository beginning. Teens probably won’t mind, however, and will most likely get sucked right in to Johnny’s world of punk, strife, curiosity and confusion. (Fiction. YA)