Reviewed by Noelle: July 11, 2012
Published April 24, 2012 by Random House Books for Young Readers
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Amanda has always gone by the nickname Zero--an apt description of her self-esteem. When she gets accepted into a prestigious art school, her "nothing" status at last seems a thing of the past. Amanda is planning to spend her last summer at home hanging with her best friend, making art and going to see her favorite local bands. What could go wrong? How about not qualifying for a necessary scholarship.
Just like that the best summer ever has become Zero's worst nightmare. She's stuck in remedial art classes at the local community college, avoiding her best friend after an awkward drunken moment and ducking for cover as her parents' marriage implodes. When Zero meets Mike, a drummer in an up and coming local band, he creates a bright spot that shines some hope on her summer, but is it enough to enlighten the path to her future?
Amanda's self-doubt and low self-esteem seem pretty overwhelming at first. Her Zero nickname is the result of her massive and I do mean massive amount of insecurities--insecurities that weighed down the story with their quantity at first and then didn't have enough heft in their eventual solutions. I think I would have liked Zero much better if one of her insecurities had turned out to be actually valid:
I'm also a sucker for artist neurosis and not only does Amanda love art, her obsession with Salvador Dali gave her passion a detailed depth. Despite having a pretty extensive interest in art history (thanks to my Mom's bookshelves of art books), Dali was never my guy. Sure, he seemed pretty interesting but I ended up associating melting clocks with dorm rooms rather than the persistence of memory.
Fast forward to a sophomore year visit to the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Whatever you think of his artwork, there is something about seeing it in it's 15 foot tall glory right in front of you.
It's breathtaking. I highly recommend visiting the Dali Museum in St. Pete if you have the chance. My other favorites from the exhibit are Velázquez Painting the Infanta Margarita with the Lights and Shadows of His Own Glory and Galaciadalacidesoxiribunucleicacid (Homage to Crick and Watson). The amount of detail, the double imagery and layers upon layers of symbolism and meaning in his works are truly fascinating.
While Zero falls short of matching the depth and complexity of the artist it honors, it does feature a lot of my grade-on-a-curve topics (music and art appreciation, fictional boys in bands, song lyric appropriation to fictional situations etc.) and I enjoyed it accordingly. 3/5 stars.
Giveaway: I was fortunate enough to receive a finished hardcover copy of Zero from the publisher and since I already had an e-book copy on my Kindle I would like to share the wealth! Enter to receive the brand new hardcover of Zero by Tom Leveen below. One winner will be randomly selected.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Amanda has always gone by the nickname Zero--an apt description of her self-esteem. When she gets accepted into a prestigious art school, her "nothing" status at last seems a thing of the past. Amanda is planning to spend her last summer at home hanging with her best friend, making art and going to see her favorite local bands. What could go wrong? How about not qualifying for a necessary scholarship.
Just like that the best summer ever has become Zero's worst nightmare. She's stuck in remedial art classes at the local community college, avoiding her best friend after an awkward drunken moment and ducking for cover as her parents' marriage implodes. When Zero meets Mike, a drummer in an up and coming local band, he creates a bright spot that shines some hope on her summer, but is it enough to enlighten the path to her future?
Amanda's self-doubt and low self-esteem seem pretty overwhelming at first. Her Zero nickname is the result of her massive and I do mean massive amount of insecurities--insecurities that weighed down the story with their quantity at first and then didn't have enough heft in their eventual solutions. I think I would have liked Zero much better if one of her insecurities had turned out to be actually valid:
- For a majority of the book, the reader is led to believe that Amanda is a little overweight. Turns out she's just wearing clothing five sizes too big and actually secretly skinny.
- Amanda worries she'll be forever alone, but attracts the attention of not one but two of the most appealing characters in the book. (Don't worry, you're in a no love triangle zone.)
- Amanda had always based her value as an artist on the compliments of her 7th grade art teacher and I admit I cackled at the importance Amanda placed on evaluations of her talent assessed at twelve years old, but never fear--by the end of the summer, despite focusing a questionable amount of her art around rainbows, she has affirmed her artistic genius.
I'm also a sucker for artist neurosis and not only does Amanda love art, her obsession with Salvador Dali gave her passion a detailed depth. Despite having a pretty extensive interest in art history (thanks to my Mom's bookshelves of art books), Dali was never my guy. Sure, he seemed pretty interesting but I ended up associating melting clocks with dorm rooms rather than the persistence of memory.
Fast forward to a sophomore year visit to the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Whatever you think of his artwork, there is something about seeing it in it's 15 foot tall glory right in front of you.
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| Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus |
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While Zero falls short of matching the depth and complexity of the artist it honors, it does feature a lot of my grade-on-a-curve topics (music and art appreciation, fictional boys in bands, song lyric appropriation to fictional situations etc.) and I enjoyed it accordingly. 3/5 stars.
Giveaway: I was fortunate enough to receive a finished hardcover copy of Zero from the publisher and since I already had an e-book copy on my Kindle I would like to share the wealth! Enter to receive the brand new hardcover of Zero by Tom Leveen below. One winner will be randomly selected.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
