Born to Rock -- Gordon Korman
Um, yeah. It's by Gordon Korman. And sheesh, look at the cover. What more do you want from a book?
For those who don't know Korman's books, he's awesome. Obviously, just knowing that should be enough, right?
But I realize that some people are stubborn, so I'll give you more.
From the prologue:
The thing about a cavity search is this: it has nothing to do with the dentist. If only it did.
They can give it polite names, like "additional inspection" or "supplemental investigation." But the fact is, you're bent over, grabbing your ankles, while some total stranger has his fingers in a very private place where nobody should be rummaging around.
Don't get me wrong. It doesn't scar you for life. You don't suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. But no one who has been through it is ever quite the same again. The experience is just—big.
I'll go even further than that. There are two kinds of people in this world—those who have had a cavity search, and those who haven't. This is the story of how I wound up in the wrong category.
Leo Caraway is the President of the Young Republicans club. He has a 4.0 GPA, early acceptance to Harvard, and a full-ride scholarship.
When he is falsely accused of cheating on one of the year's last tests, Harvard yanks his scholarship and Leo finds himself desperate for cash.
Luckily (sort of), he's just discovered that his bio-dad is King Maggot, the most notorious bad boy of 80s punk rock. When King finds out he has a son, he offers Leo a job as a roadie on Purge's reunion tour. Leo accepts, hoping that after a summer together, he'll be close enough to his new dad to hit him up for $40,000.
Born to Rock is the story of Leo's summer with the band. There's sex (not so much with Leo, but he doesn't do so bad for himself), drugs (again, not Leo), and lots and lots of punk rock. I saw every single plot twist coming, but that didn't bother me. I liked Leo, liked his friends, and had a big fat crush on King.
Wicked fun, light and entertaining.