King Dork is a young adult novel Young-adult fiction is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21 by Frank Portman first published in 2006. The novel features protagonist and disaffected slacker Tom Henderson in the fall of his high school High school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America, and Oceania to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education. The actual term "high school" originated in Scotland with the world's oldest being the Royal High School in 1505, and spread to the New World owing sophomore year. The storyline focuses on Tom’s many problems in life including the death of his police officer A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crime. Police officers are sworn to an oath, and are granted the power to arrest and imprison suspects, along with other practices father six years previous; his attempts to start a hard-rock band with his best and only friend Sam Hellerman; the daily difficulties of surviving a contemporary American high school filled with cruel peers, uncaring administrators and teachers obsessed with the novel Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of alienation and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages. Around 250,000 copies are sold each year, with total sales of more than sixty-five million; his evolving relationship with his mother and stepfather; and negotiating the complexities of relating to the opposite sex.
The novel, while following a traditional linear narrative, frequently makes tangents in the first-person narrative where Tom examines his life and relationship to the rest of the world. The character of Tom speaks rarely and sparsely in the novel, but his internal dialogue is both verbose and extensive.
Contents |
Plot summary
Outcast Tom Henderson begins his sophomore year of high school in as quiet way as possible but is set upon by the school’s many bullies and administration. Through a series of chance circumstances he soon finds himself investigating his father’s death, trying to put together a decent rock band with his only friend, searching out the identity of a mystery girl he met and made out with at a party, struggling to keep out of the way of the school’s psychotic “normal” kids bent on cruelly punishing him for existing. The myriad plot strands are brought together during and after a climatic battle of the bands in the school where he inadvertently is the cause of the disappearance of at least one teacher, earns the wrath of a new group of student, and the surprising admiration of some of those who previously despised him.
Band names
Throughout the novel Tom and Sam devise various names for their band along with album titles and alternate identities for themselves. This is mostly done to ward away boredom, but to also find an identity for their music. At the climax of the novel, as Balls Deep, Sam and Tom, with their drummer Todd Panchowski, make their big debut at a school talent contest, but at the last moment when Tom is introducing the band, he changes their name to the Chi-Mos, his nickname in school. Tom feels they have a mostly successful show because most of their songs are designed to ridicule their vice principal which have a mostly positive reaction from the crowd, and his secret girlfriend Deanna, skips out of her Catholic school to see the show. In celebration of their apparent success Tom and Sam destroy Todd’s drum kit and the cabinet housing Sam’s amplifier. Balls Deep/The Chi-Mos! wind up losing the contest anyway.
Catcher in the Rye
One of the minor annoyances Tom copes with is what he terms the Cult of Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of alienation and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages. Around 250,000 copies are sold each year, with total sales of more than sixty-five million. Tom states every teacher in his school assigns Catcher in the Rye as mandatory reading, thereby sucking any literary, historical or rebellious merit out of the novel. The ironic part is that Tom Henderson and Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield is a fictional character, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye have much in common especially in their disaffected world view, difficulty of dealing with their peers, and even the odd detail of having a younger sister and emotionally distant parents.
Partway through the novel Tom find a box of his father’s old books, including Catcher in the Rye and Brighton Rock Brighton Rock is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1938, and later made into a 1947 film of the same name. The novel is a murder thriller set in 1930s Brighton. Inside one of these books he finds an old coded message from his father to an unknown friend. This propels Tom into investigating his father’s death in an attempt to determine if the accident that killed his father was truly an accident, a murder or something else entirely.
Film adaptation
The film rights to the book were optioned by the Will Ferrell John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, actor, voice actor and writer. Ferrell first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films A Night at the Roxbury, Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Stranger than Fiction, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, and Land of/Adam McKay Adam McKay is an Emmy-nominated American writer and film director Paramount Paramount Pictures is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles/Vantage production company Gary Sanchez Productions in November 2006.[1] In May 2009 Portman reported that a new deal had been reached with Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony. Its group sales in 2008 has been reported to be of $7.2 billion, with Gary Sanchez still set as the production company. Seth Gordon, director of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is an American documentary film that follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score for the arcade game Donkey Kong from reigning champion Billy Mitchell. The film premiered January 22, 2007, at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival and has been shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Seattle, is attached to direct the film.[2] The Internet Movie Database The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. IMDb launched on October 17, 1990, and in 1998 was acquired by Amazon.com forecasts King Dork for a 2011 release.[3]
References
- ^ Sperling, Nicole (2006-11-16). "Gary Sanchez Catches 'King Dork'". The Book Standard. http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003408027. Retrieved 2007-07-14.
- ^ "King Dork movie adaptation status update, release date for follow up". Punknews.org Punknews.org is a website founded by Aubin Paul which launched in 1999. The website publishes music news and album reviews relating to punk rock, hardcore punk, ska, indie rock and heavy metal. It features user-submitted and editor-evaluated articles, through a publishing format much like popular technology-related news website Slashdot. 2009-05-11. http://www.punknews.org/article/33490#1261441. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- ^ "King Dork". Internet Movie Database The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. IMDb launched on October 17, 1990, and in 1998 was acquired by Amazon.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903128/. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
Categories: 2006 novels | American novels | Debut novels | Young adult novels Categories: Novels by age-group | Young adult literature
unknown
Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:05:20 GM
Musician Frank Portman makes his first foray into the world of Young Adult literature with this insightful look at a nerdy teenage boy's navigation through high school.
