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Beige

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Beige

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Overview

"Castellucci mixes details of the L.A. punk scene with memorable characters and witty dialogue. . . . Consider this pure Nirvana." — Booklist

Exiled from Canada to Los Angeles, Katy can't believe she is spending the summer with her father—punk name: the Rat—a recovered addict and drummer for the band Suck. Even though Katy feels abandoned by her mom, even though the Rat's place is a mess and he's not like anything she'd call a father, Kathy won't make a fuss. After all, she is a girl who is quiet and polite, a girl who smiles, a girl who is, well, beige. Or is she? From the author of Boy Proof and The Queen of Cool comes an edgy L.A. novel full of humor, heart, and music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763630669
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	05/08/2007
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.49(w) x 8.03(h) x 1.22(d)
Lexile:	540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Cecil Castellucci is an author, filmmaker, actress, and singer-songwriter. She says, "When I first moved to Los Angeles from Montreal, I wrote in a café owned by Eric Melvin from NOFX, had Thanksgiving dinner with Tim Armstrong from Rancid, and had my taxes done by a guy who was in the Circle Jerks. Everyone was So-Cal Punk crazy and I felt so . . . beige. I wondered what it would be like to grow up around adults that cool, especially if you were plopped into that scene when it wasn’t yours."
Cecil Castellucci now lives in Los Angeles.

Read an Excerpt

"Relax." Lake says. "It’s just feedback from one of the amps."

She likes that I don’t know anything. Thinking I’m stupid probably makes her feel good about herself. She climbs up on the stone wall so that she can see better. She puts her fingers in her mouth and whistles like a trucker.

Suck is the band now taking the stage. Everyone at the party starts to stumble closer.

The Rat takes his place and sits behind his drum kit, shirtless. Sam quietly stands at the microphone as the entire party becomes still. He just stands there with intention.

Suddenly, The Rat breaks the spell, clicking the drumsticks over his head.

He screams, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

_______

BEIGE by Cecil Castellucci. Copyright © 2007 by Cecil Castellucci. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

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When Katy's mother leaves for an archeological expedition, the Canadian teen is sent to live with her father-a legendary punk rock drummer and recovering drug addict nicknamed The Rat-in Los Angeles. Katy knows she is "incurably uncool," and does not connect with her father's lifestyle or his music; it's Lake, the daughter of the lead singer in her father's band who calls her "beige," a nickname Katy adopts. But she slowly finds a place in their world, affecting them with her kindness and "learning to be loud" so she can release some of her bottled anger. The plot holds few surprises: she gets to know her father-who really does try hard to understand her, even after she tells him "I guess I don't really like music that much"-and she begins to see another side of her mother, who was also an addict. Castellucci (The Queen of Cool) has rendered Katy as a believable character, and teens will sympathize with her as she finally starts to reveal her true feelings. The book seems scripted at times, but readers will certainly learn something about the history of punk music and, like Katy, can consider what it means to "live on [one's] own terms without conforming to society's expectations." Ages 14-up. (June)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

What's a decidedly non-hip girl to do when she's suddenly plunged into the punk-rock scene in L.A.? Fourteen-year-old Katy desperately doesn't want to leave her mother and her nice life in Montreal to spend two whole weeks with her almost-famous drummer father, nicknamed "The Rat." Katy doesn't even like music and tries to bury herself in books, but can't escape Lake, the rocker girl assigned to keep an eye on her. Chronically angry Lake takes to calling Katy "Beige," a seemingly perfect label until Katy at last begins to find a side of herself she didn't even know existed. Castellucci shows wonderful insight as she slowly opens Katy's mind to new ideas and conflicting feelings. A cast of quirky characters keeps the book interesting, both for readers interested in the emotional drama and in the L.A. music scene, without getting into anything too gritty. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews