false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256018034m/5930447.jpg 5930447 2 Ballads are the kind of songs that Kara McNaughton likes best. Not the cliched ones where a diva hits her highest note or a rock band tones it down a couple of notches for the ladies, but the true ballads: the punk rocker or the country crooner telling the story of their life in three minutes, the chorus reminding their listeners of the numerous ways to screw things up. In high school, Kara helped maintain the "Stories of Suburbia" notebook, which contained newspaper articles about bizarre and often tragic events from suburbs all over and personal vignettes that Kara dubbed "ballads" written by her friends in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. Those "ballads" were heartbreakingly honest tales of the moments when life changes and a kid is forced to grow up too soon. But Kara never wrote her own ballad. Before she could figure out what her song was about, she was leaving town after a series of disastrous events at the end of her junior year. Four years later, Kara returns to face the music, and tells the tale of her first three years of high school with her friends' "ballads" interspersed throughout. 6102889 21 7 2009 Ballads of Suburbia total:60|5:37|4:17|3:4|2:2|1:0| 60 269 259 28 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 06 07:32:16 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 07:38:17 -0800 2009
I said:

"I debated whether to give this book a 4 or 5 as Amazon doesn't allow in-betweens, but ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 09 05:51:15 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 05:54:35 -0700 2009
Ms. Kuehnert has written another powerful and hard-hitting novel to follow up her stunning debut, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE.

Kara is friendless when her BFF Stacey has to move to another less expensive suburb of Chicago. So when new gir...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 06 15:25:24 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 15:25:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 06:55:14 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 20:02:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 16:12:53 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 19:42:56 -0700 2009
The novel starts with an epilogue, with Kara, back after 4 years. Then it launches into ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 17:49:47 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 14:24:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 18:41:03 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 09:46:16 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 15:47:26 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 18:13:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 13:23:36 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 22:36:13 -0700 2009
Kuehnert...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 27 06:28:08 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 04:08:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 21:13:55 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 16:15:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 15 19:44:26 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 12:41:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 12:53:14 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 11:31:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jul 13 03:37:41 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 11:32:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 12:57:11 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 10:17:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 14:43:10 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 03 13:42:52 -0800 2009 It takes place in Chicago...the real Chicago. Landmar...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 11:51:47 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 12:47:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 12:53:40 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 18:44:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jan 01 12:09:32 -0800 2009 Fri Jul 03 11:52:08 -0700 2009
This book lef...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 18:06:39 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 20:38:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5930447