A 2015 Morris Award nominee
Harbinger Robert Francis Jones (Harry for short) hasn't had the best start in life. Recounting his life in an admission essay to get into college, Harry starts at age eight, when a group of neighborhood boys tied him to a tree as part of a game and then left him when a summer thunderstorm rolled in. While bullying is never good, Harry's situation is made worse when lightning strikes the tree he is tied to, causing a chunk of it to hit him on the head and then setting the tree (and him) on fire. Naturally, he comes out of this with an incredible fear of thunderstorms, anxiety around other kids, and a methadone addiction that he has to be weaned off from at the tender age of nine. You might think he would spend the rest of his childhood alone, as his facial scarring keeps a lot of kids away, but that changes when Johnny McKenna decides to be his friend. And things change even more when Johnny decides they should start a punk rock band. Calling themselves the Scar Boys, Harry focuses on the summer they get really good and decide to go on tour. Drawing from his own experience of being in a band, Len Vlahos spins an engaging tale about a boy finding his way through life, despite the cruddy start. Harry is relatable, and just self-deprecating enough to inspire sympathy and not annoyance. It's a great slice-of-life story, one that focuses on one moment in time than it does about a specific conflict (and the song title chapter names are a great touch). Great for fans of underdogs, punk rock, or anyone into an easy story about figuring out who you are and the road to getting there.
(Read as part of YALSA's Morris/Nonfiction Challenge.)
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