The Son of Someone Famous

by M.E. Kerr

To escape his father's fame, a teenaged boy goes to live with his grandfather in a Vermont town where he befriends a tomboy.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

50 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

M. E. Kerr was born Marijane Meaker in Auburn, New York. Her interest in writing began with her father, who loved to read, and her mother, who loved to tell stories of neighborhood gossip. Unable to find an agent to represent her work, Meaker became her own agent, and wrote articles and books under a series of pseudonyms: Vin Packer, Ann Aldrich, Laura Winston, M.E. Kerr, and Mary James. As M.E. Kerr, Meaker has produced over twenty novels for young adults and won multiple awards, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her lifetime contribution to young adult literature.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another from the recent library sale.

I am a fan of teen novels from the 70s & 80s. (I mean, I'm a fan of current YA novels, too, but you have to admit, they're not the same!) There are no teenage heroes here, just a boy and a girl trying to make it through high school.

I did enjoy this even though some parts seem implausible.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite childhood books. I have such clear memories of reading this in the winter time at my grandmother's house late at night. Unlike my parents, my grandmother didn't make me go to bed with the chickens (as we say in the South) and staying up late at night reading books like this was easily the best part of my childhood. I love this book so much - then and now. To me, this is the kind of book that is timeless. Teenagers will always have feelings of not fitting in and this is one of the best books on that subject. The characters are all real, not stereotypical teens. This book is funny, sad and touching all in one. I left a message on the author's website about ten years ago and I was thrilled when she wrote back a day later. M. E. Kerr is also the author of Is That You, Miss Blue?, Gentlehands and Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!. She is a great writer, and all of her books are great whether it's the first or fiftieth time you are reading them. I highly recommend this book.

[Géraldine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book for teenagers. The son of a very famous man comes in a small town to train himself not to be only the disappointed son of his father. He meets a girl who feels herself bad and ugly. They decide to change the world around them. It s a story about teenagers in the '70s but not a stupid story.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a little dated — but who isn’t.

[Willa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just..... no. I write this review to spare others from going through the painful experience I endured reading this. Thankfully, the book is short. Written in about 1978, the first chapter is cute. It's downhill from there. On the plus side, about 10 percent of the dialogue is decent. The rest is filler. If you like ending a book with the thought, "What was that about?" this one's for you. Nothing is clear, it's a muddled mess. Life is short, read a GOOD book.

[katnick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book caught and held my attention from page one. The author has an engaging voice that doesn't feel dated despite the fact that this book was written in the 70s. The tone is light and the characters are likeable and well rounded. Adam is the sixteen-year-old son of a famous politician (who is never given a name). He comes to live incognito with his alcoholic grandfather after he gets in trouble (again) for failing school. Brenda Belle is a funny girl who marches to the beat of her own drummer – much to the despair of her prudish mother. The plot... well, the plot is what downgraded my opinion from 4 stars to 2.

The story meanders, doesn't make a lot of sense, and provides almost no resolution. Adam and Brenda Belle each have crushes on the popular kids in school and become fake boyfriend and girlfriend in order to... something. Possibly make them jealous? In an unrelated plan, they decide to be nice to people who are lonely or left out, which coincidentally re-opens some sort of secret rift between Adam's grandfather and his crush's father, while at the same time their own friendship is falling apart because they're hiding things from each other. In the end nothing changes.

Adam's grades don't improve and he never finds out the big secret. Brenda Belle's mother doesn't understand her any better. They both claim to have discovered something about themselves, but it felt more like everything had reset to how it was in the beginning, ready for Round 2. It was a good try, but ultimately a miss for me.

[Hillary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is kind of a hot mess. The characters had a lot of potential, but the plot was all over the place and nothing really seemed to coalesce in terms of action. Brenda Belle is a confusing character (distinct from what was intended to be portrayed, i.e. her being confused about herself) - if this book were written today it would have been very plainly about her trying to figure out if she identifies as a boy, but I'm not sure if that's actually what M.E. Kerr was trying to get at in a roundabout 1970s way or not. It just felt very unformed and maybe even unintentional as a plot point. If I were a young reader thinking about my gender identity I think I would find this book incredibly frustrating and disappointing.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/03...

The back copy of the Lizzie Skurnick reissue of this book totally deceived me. It made it seem like it's a book about a teenage boy, secretly the son of someone famous, who comes to a small town and befriends an outcast girl (maybe she's a lesbian? But probably not) and they're awesome outcasts together, when REALLY what happens is they both use each other to try and further their own popularity. Everyone in this book is a huge jerk, teens and adults alike. I did like how the girl's story ended up, I guess? B/B-.

[Megan Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel held my attention just long enough to finish it. Come to think of it, I can't even remember what I read, and I read this yesterday. I was not enthralled with the plot, if you can call it that, nor was I connected with the (somewhat lacking) characters. There were a few passages of the novel that I could appreciate, but overall, this is not worth reading.

[CLM · Rating 1 out of 5]

tedious

[Westman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A teenager can't quite live up to his father's reputation and gets in trouble with his school numerous times. This is the story of how he wants to be known for, not by his dad, but by his own self.

[Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was pretty good. I have to say that starting out i had rather low expectations but I like it now that it's over.

[HeavyReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure I read this book back in middle school when I was on my M.E. Kerr kick. If it was in the Scott, Louisiana library, I read it.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

M.E. Kerr, way to write a book about two kids who were definitely not straight in 1974. I love your weird and dusty dialogue and character motivations too.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerr's books are kind of ridiculous, but they're super entertaining. I liked this one more than I expected, even though nobody was very likable.