Rockoholic

Gr 8 Up—Sixteen-year-old Jody's obsession with Jackson Gatlin, the lead singer of the band The Regulators, only amps up following the death of her beloved, free-spirited grandfather. In the chaos following a Regulators concert, Jody accidentally kidnaps Jackson and keeps him in the garage behind her house. She quickly learns that her idol isn't the person she believed him to be. With the help of her friend Mac, she deals with Jackson's unpredictable behavior and mood swings and helps him to detox while the rest of the world believes that he has died. Just as Jackson acclimates to Jody and Mac and begins to plan for a new life out of the spotlight, a nosy local reporter begins to suspect that the famous singer is hiding nearby. Jody is able to make arrangements to sneak Jackson out of the country just in time. On a mission to make sense of her grandfather's parting words, "Don't dream it, be it," she struggles to find herself, be understood, and understand her relationships with those closest to her. Teens will appreciate Jody's journey of self-discovery despite it being set to the unlikely premise of successfully carrying out a celebrity kidnapping.—Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT