Oh yeah!! My first comedy turned out to be way funnier than I expected. I am so glad that I have GR friends because I don’t have to read synopsis after synopsis trying to figure out what I might like. Shout out to DaemonBlack(bookfreak) for an awesome recommendation.(22 yo girl in case you think this is just a guys book)

The story is about Sean, Coop, and Matt, three high school boys. Unfortunately *looks right* *looks left* it is told in a voice that high school boys actually think and act. I wo More...

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

In the author note for BEAT THE BAND, Don Calame states, "It was hard saying good-bye to the characters in SWIM THE FLY. And then I realized I didn't have to. I just needed to find a way to get them back into trouble again."

This reader is extremely pleased that Calame missed his characters enough to give them another chance in BEAT THE BAND. I found them even more engaging and entertaining this second time around.

It is sophomore yea More...

Cooper Redmond thinks his garage band, Arnold Murphy's Bologna Dare, has what it takes to win his high school's Battle of Bands and make him uber-popular and attract the hottest girls in school. His band mates, Sean and Matt, don't quite agree. When Cooper is paired with the school joke, Helen, for a semester-long health class project, he is sure that no matter how well his band does, being seen with Helen will ruin his chances to become big man on campus. When it's discovered that Helen has a k More...

I started this and was immediately bothered by Cooper's language and his Dad's attitude. I was kind of disgusted to be honest, and didn't expect to enjoy the book, since I wasn't a big fan of Cooper's character. As the story went on, however, I found myself getting sucked in.

Cooper and his two friends start tenth grade with high expectations of getting with some hot girls. Cooper's plans are quickly derailed when he gets assigned to work with Hot Dog Helen on a health project. To add insult to More...

Beat the Band is an excellent sequel to Swim the Fly. The characters seem to come alive even more as we see them through a second crazy plan. Initially, I found Cooper to be a hard narrator to support. His views, particularly of the girls in his class, really started to get under my skin. I realize part of that is that the reader is brought inside the mind of a teenage boy, but I initially found Cooper more irritating in that regard.

But I was so glad at the end that I stuck with it because Coope More...

I really need to stop reading these kinds of books at night--I laugh through them and that doesn't make me sleepy!
The sequel to "Swim the Fly," this book switches to the point of view of Cooper Redmond. Coop, and his "Swim the Fly" buds Matt and Sean, are in their sophomore year. Their project in health class is to take a topic assigned by the teacher and present a full class period on it. Matt and Sean are drawn as partners but Coop is paired with Helen Harriwick--or Hot Dog Helen as she has be More...

“You won’t be sorry; I promise… this is going to be epic!” –Cooper Redmond… Famous last words, yes? Maybe, but that all depends on how you look at it. Even when you lose, sometimes you win something much better.

Although in the same vein of funny as SWIM THE FLY with most of the same cast, BEAT THE BAND (Swim The Fly #2) is a completely different story. To be honest the fact that this second book is written from Cooper’s pov had me going in a bit weary from the start. Coop’s brazen and often over More...

An outstanding sequel to Swim the Fly! Like the Harry Potter characters, I loved reconnecting with these fellows and their exploits. Nick Podehl's narration is outstanding and those character voices will be forever ingrained in my head. Should there be another in this series, Nick Podehl better do the narration.

Swim the Fly was written from the perspective of Matt, who is one of the three boys whose exploits we hilariously follow. It is in this character's voice that the author/narrator tells More...

You know, I do not like Judd Apatow movies, and Homer Simpson truly drives me crazy. So, I knew this book was not written for me. I just really do not like bathroom humor. Other than that, but that is a big that in this book, the story was sort of sweet, and well written,too. Sort of like Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging, but with boys. But please YA authors, you can be funny without being vulgar.

Beat the Band was exactly what I was expecting after reading Swim the Fly last year. It's crude, funny and a better insight into the brain of a teenage boy that I probably needed!

The bos are back and on form. They manage to muddle themselves through a series of madcap events from coop having to join up with a social outcast to do a class presentation on contraception to them 3 boys entering a battle of the bands competition despite the fact they can't actually play any instruments.

I actually lov More...

Just like it's predecessor, Swim the Fly, this book had me in tears from laughing so hard. Cooper Redmond decides that for their sophomore year goal, he and buds Matt and Sean will get to all the bases with, he hopes, the four hottest girls of the class. Yes, he crude and objectifies girls, especially when he's daydreaming of foursomes. Most teenage boys also hope for a girl to ask for a co-ed shower. What's funny is he doesn't stand a chance at any at scoring at these things, let alone first ba More...

Don Calame has a great sense of humor. I enjoyed reading Swim the Fly but my experience with the sequel Beat the Band was even better. Cooper makes for a hilarious and sympathetic protagonist. Like many high school students, Cooper is obsessed with his reputation. He desperately wants to cover all the bases with a hot girl and be cool with all the guys (and the popular girls) in school. However, the already shaky foundation upon which his reputation sits is about to crumble when he is paired up More...

After achieving their goal of seeing a real, live woman au natural in the summer between their freshman and sophomore years, Matt, Sean and Coop are back with a new goal--to see if they can make it to the elusive third base. Told from Coop's point of view, Beat the Band is a follow-up to one of my favorite books in recent memory Swim the Fly.

But maybe Fly set my expectations bar way too high because while I liked Beat the Band, I didn't love it. Part of that could be that Coop is a bit rougher More...

Coop, Matt and Sean are back in Beat the Band. The school year is looking up for the three friends who barely managed to accomplish their summer goal of seeing a girl naked (never mind that it was their old, unattractive teacher on a nudist beach). Coop has big plans to get his cherry popped, preferably in a 4-way with the hottest girls in school! However, his dreams are ruined when he is partnered with "Hot Dog" Helen for a health class presentation on safe sex. To try to resuscitate what is le More...

I really enjoyed this follow up to Swim the Fly. This time the story is told from the perspective of Coop, who was kind of the insensitive jerk of the trio of friends (Matt, Sean & Coop) from the first book. The story picks up during their sophomore year. Coop has a goal to hit all the bases with a girl, specifically with one of the 'hot', popular ones. But his tactics are not well-received (let's just say his lines are pretty lewd, but also goofy). His plans take a turn for the worse when h More...

Both this book and its predessor are edgy and a bit crude, just the way young boys can be with each other. As a woman, I was a bit more shocked by the start of this book because it came off even more raunchy than Swim the Fly began. I was a little worried. But I need not have worried the opening shocking bravado was just empty talk.

Once the real story began, I realized that Don Calame was again masterful at allowing the reader to "feel like one of the boys" and that included getting past ranchy More...

Ok, this book had me laughing right from the start. Coop is such a skuz it is unbelieveable, but he has a good heart, and you can't really dislike him.

His Health teacher teams him with a totally unpopular girl for a whole semester for a presentation on contraception, so Coop HAS to do something to redeem his own reputation at school. His first choice is to help the clique of hot girls who are making his partner's life even more miserable. His second thought is to revive the band he had formed wi More...

This book is hilarious, riveting and fun involving characters I will never forget. I am definitely going to be looking out for the prequel, Swim the Fly, which I have heard is ten times funnier!

Beat the Band revolves around the three trouble-causing teenagers: Coop, Sean and Matt. When Coop gets paired up with the most repulsive social outcast, 'Hot Dog' Helen, he has to do something to keep his reputation (or what he has of it). Rumours are getting worse and worse, so he must act fast.

From the More...

Sequel to Swim the Fly

Now that the boys have fulfilled their quest to see a real live naked female, Cooper has set a new goal: sex (or tagging as many bases as he can, anyway). When he gets assigned to a project with Helen "hot dog" Harriwick, he sees his chances of scoring drop to an all-time low. He decides that the way to combat this is by getting into the school Battle of the Bands because rock stars always get the hot girls. The only problem is that his band really sucks.

Cooper seems to hav More...

I started listening to the audiobook version of Beat the Band, but I switched to the ebook near the end of the story. Coop has a very strong personality and I often wanted to throttle him. The narrator, Nick Podehl, did a great job with the narration; maybe Podehl was a little too good.

Anyway, it was an entertaining story. I liked the introduction of Helen; I thought she was a great character. Coop was exasperating and annoying at times, but that's who he was in Swim the Fly. I thought it was gr More...

A solid sequel to SWIM THE FLY, this one focusing on Cooper as the protagonist, which threw me at first. I picked this up thinking it would give me garage band flashbacks from my highschool days (even though I'm way beyond the demographics for this). It did, but what proved more appealing was the comedy and romance. It reads like one of those John Cusack or John Hughes movies from the '80s--not very deep and somewhat predictable, but entertaining. Definitely a 'guy' book, but female readers (and More...

Woooo, ah, I love this series. But as I said, it's not for everyone. In fact, it probably only appeals to teenage guys about my age... Heh.
But I was laughing out loud for half the book, and the other half was devoted to a surprising amount of drama and romance. This book is exactly like the first book, except if anything, funnier and with a good bit less romanticism.

The first book, (Swim the Fly) was written from the perspective of Matt, the calm dude. And this book tells a new story from the pe More...

Okay, I loved this book. I laughed outlound several times - late at night, reading until 2am to finish it! Cooper and his Dad are crase and inappropriate but hilariously funny. My favorite parts are: the gassy library (no kidding), shopping for contraceptives, and "sprucing up their image". As an 80's music fan, I enjoyed Dad revisiting his high school band days and the images it conjured up. I also appreciated the use of song titles as chapter titles - clever Mr. Calame, very clever. I can't wa More...

This book was as much fun as Swim the Fly by Calame. It is told by the POV of Coop,the girl obsessed sophomore who he is crass and unlikable only because his main goal is to round the bases with the hottest girls in school. Then he matched up with Hotdog Helen who is ridiculed by the entire school, to complete a project on contraceptives for Health class. To fight this uncool happening he forms a band with his two best buds in the hope of winning the school's battle of the bands. He soon finds o More...

This is easily one of the funniest books I've ever read. I actually picked this one up before I read Swim the Fly. Surprisingly, I wasn't hopelessly confused without the guidance of the first book. Beat the Band could easily be a stand-alone novel.

Cooper, the main character, is absolutely hilarious. I actually laughed out loud many times throughout the pages of this book. The plans he goes through just to accomplish his goal simply adds to the humor. It's actually quite realistic in this sense: More...

Coop, Matt, and Sean have a plan to join the battle of the bands because he wants to be the lady's man across the school. Then when they have a health project, Sean and Matt get paired together leaving Coop alone. After, Coop gets paired up with Helen Harwwick, the lonely so called nerd who everyone call's Hot Dog girl. Later, Coop plagiarizes a not so popular song in hopes to get a demo in before the deadline.

I decided to pick up this book because I loved the last book and see who Coop ends up More...

Cooper is this guy (told from his POV)and how badly he wants to start out his tenth grade with a big bang. you know getting the hot girls becoming popular and trying to get his friends Sean and Matt in with his plan but it all goes down hill when his parnered up with the infamous Helen. And thats when everything goes down hill from there.


This bok was total and pure EPIC! This made me laugh so hard that I had to put the book down until I regained control. The first pages of this book and I was h More...

Beat the Band is the sequel to the hilarious Swim the Fly. You can read my review of the first novel HERE.

This novel is another comical, daft teenage drama. Told from Coop’s point of view, the story follows the three guys through their first semester of the new school year. After an epic summer, Coop, Matt and Sean are back to reality. Matt is still hopelessly devoted to the lovely Valerie. Sean is still loopy. Coop is the guy who ropes them into all kinds of trouble.

Cooper is a really funny vie More...

My underclassmen have been checking out this book like crazy. It is a quick read and I can see why the humor in it would appeal to young men. This is the sequel to Swim the Fly which was also very popular at my school. The gist of the story is three young men who are willing to do about anything to see a naked girl and then move that relationship a little further. While sometimes the jokes between the friends in regards to sex gets a little tired, my students don't seem to mind and return the bo More...

As with the first book in this series, 'Swim the Fly', I absolutely blitzed my way through this story laughing pretty much all the way. This book maintains appeal for the target audience of teenage boys but I think it also works really well for teenage girls. The girls were a bit too one dimensional in the previous book and whilst not all the female characters are really 'fleshed out' in this one they are at least presented with a bit more depth! I loved the triumphant ending... only in an Ameri More...