Delaney, Mark. Pepperland.DELANEY, Mark. Pepperland. Peachtree. 184p. c2004. 1-56145-317-X. $14,95. JS It's the fall of 1980, and the Beatles are over but their legacy lives on. Star's mother loved the Beatles and passed both her passion and her musical talents on to her 16-year-old daughter, who jams on a vintage Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, also known as a Tele, is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacture and popular music. in the garage with her pal and bass player Dooley. Along one garage wall are the boxes of belongings her mother never unpacked when they moved, and now they are all that's left for Star since breast cancer took her mother and the music away. Star tries to deal with her loss along with her stepfather step·fa·ther n. The husband of one's mother and not one's natural father. stepfather Noun a man who has married one's mother after the death or divorce of one's father Noun 1. Syke, but the song she keeps trying to write, that she needs to write for her mother, stays bottled up inside where neither she nor her therapist Dr. Artaud can reach it. Part of her healing involves delivering a letter to John Lennon Noun 1. John Lennon - English rock star and guitarist and songwriter who with Paul McCartney wrote most of the music for the Beatles (1940-1980) Lennon that her mother never sent; however, only after she finds her mother's battered bat·ter 1 v. bat·tered, bat·ter·ing, bat·ters v.tr. 1. To hit heavily and repeatedly with violent blows. 2. To subject to repeated beatings or physical abuse. 3. Gibson in the garage rafters and seeks out Teri Seeger, the luthier lu·thi·er n. One that makes or repairs stringed instruments, such as violins. [French, from luth, lute, from Old French lut; see lute1.] Noun 1. who agrees to repair the guitar, does Star begin the daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin task of rebuilding the Gibson, and herself, from the inside out. Pepperland is the tender story of one young woman's journey through the grief of losing her mother to ultimately finding herself. The cast of characters is small but runs deep, and readers root for Star to deliver the letter at an upcoming concert, to recognize how her feelings for Dooley have changed, and to find the Gibson's chords and her own words immortalizing her mother in a song. Michele Winship, Asst. Prof., Capital Univ., Columbus, OH |
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