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Five Flavors of Dumb Antony John Books

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Five Flavors of Dumb Antony John Books

I learned about Five Flavors of Dumb when the ALA awards were being announced. Five Flavors of Dumb received the Schneider Family Book Award, and after looking it up on Goodreads I knew I had to read it. I started this Saturday night (1/29/11) and finished it early the following day. Antony John’s writing style is easy to read and filled with wit and charm. I know I’ll be reading more of his books!

Many of my students are in band and/or choir, so I’ve read a number of books that fit with those students (i.e. Dramarama by E. Lockhart). Antony’s book is a nice change of pace because it involves kids in their own band and playing instruments like the guitar and drums. I have quite a few guitar players in my classes, so I’m hoping this book will be a great fit.

What I most enjoyed about this book is that nothing comes to easily for Piper; she really has to work and step up her game to get what she wants. Because she needs to break out of her shell, she also grows some confidence and looks past her deafness. It doesn’t happen in a snap, but it’s fun to watch her discover who she really is. The process also involves Piper’s tense relationship with her family. Her dad won’t/hasn’t learned ASL, her mom is paying all her attention to her now-hearing baby sister, and her brother won’t give her the time of day. Trying to work through that, while also trying to make Dumb hit it big throws some obstacles in her way. Thankfully, Piper is able to learn from it all without the book becoming cheesy.

If you want to read a humorous, fun and heart-warming book–mixed with plenty of rock, of course–then I definitely suggest you pick up a copy of Antony John’s Five Flavors of Dumb!


Tags : Amazon.com: Five Flavors of Dumb (9780803734333): Antony John: Books,Antony John,Five Flavors of Dumb,Dial Books,0803734336,Performing Arts - Music,Social Themes - General (see also headings under Family),Social Themes - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance,Bands (Music);Fiction.,Deaf;Fiction.,Rock groups;Fiction.,Bands (Music),Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Deaf,Fiction,Rock groups,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Performing Arts Music,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Friendship,Young Adult Fiction Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Young Adult Fiction Social Themes Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance

Five Flavors of Dumb Antony John Books Reviews

Well, that went by quickly... I accidentally finished this book way faster than I meant to because I was so hooked, I couldn't put it down. It was really the narrator's voice that drew me in. The plot was the kind of predictable, feel-good story where you kinda knew everything that was going to happen from page 1, but I didn't mind. It wasn't what the story was that pulled me in, it was how it was told. Piper's a fantastic character, and the supporting cast was pretty interesting as well. Also, I thought it was great how the book subtly wove in discussions around the character's deafness... it was a part of her, but it didn't define her.
"There was no togetherness, no blending - just five separate flavors of an indigestible dish called Dumb."

It was crazy to agree. It would gave been crazy for ANYONE to say yes - let alone Piper Vaughan. One minute she's pissed because she just wants to go home and her little brother Finn is too busy worshipping their Seattle high school's latest rock band to get his butt to the car. So she let loose, you know, and informed the members of Dumb of her exact opinion on their amateur efforts to become a band. She figured they'd just ignore her, that's what just about everybody at school always does. At worst, they'd lay into her, maybe push her around. But that's not what happened at all. Inexplicably, the members of Dumb made her an offer. They'll make her their manager. If she can get them a paying gig in 30 days, they'll keep her on and split the money with her. And Piper agreed. Which was crazy. Because Piper Vaughan is deaf.

Managing Dumb is just one of the problems on Piper's plate these days. She's constantly bickering with Finn, who seems angry and resentful when it comes to his big sister. And don't even get her started on her parents. Her Mom works so much that Piper almost never sees her. And her Dad? Well, it's pretty obvious that he's mortified by her deafness. It seems like he'll always think of Piper as 'disabled.' Then there's the whole not fitting in at school thing, which is not a new phenomenon for Piper. She thought that was going to change. Her grandparents left her a college fund, enough money so that she could attend Gallaudet - the finest university in the world for deaf and hearing impaired students. Only now, at the beginning of her Senior year no less, her parents decided to use Piper's college money to get cochlear implants for her deaf baby sister. Without asking Piper.

So managing Dumb isn't half as crazy as the rest of her life. And it's going to force Piper to step out of the background and get noticed, which she is beginning to think might not be that bad. And suddenly it's important to Piper that she does this thing right, even if it means adopting a little of a rock rebel attitude herself.

It's not often that a book makes me both laugh out loud and tear up as I'm reading, but this one definitely did. Five Flavors of Dumb is truly amazing and Piper is one of the best Y.A. characters I've encountered in a long time. Everything about her is honest - her anger, her determination to live life on her terms, her struggle to make her parents see her as she truly is. It would have been so easy to let a story like this sink into a dark, angst-ridden hole, but Antony John brilliantly avoided that trap. His prose is superb, the plot is perfect and Five Flavors of Dumb is a kick-butt, take no prisoners kind of novel, a fantastic piece of Y.A. fiction and a damn good read.
I learned about Five Flavors of Dumb when the ALA awards were being announced. Five Flavors of Dumb received the Schneider Family Book Award, and after looking it up on Goodreads I knew I had to read it. I started this Saturday night (1/29/11) and finished it early the following day. Antony John’s writing style is easy to read and filled with wit and charm. I know I’ll be reading more of his books!

Many of my students are in band and/or choir, so I’ve read a number of books that fit with those students (i.e. Dramarama by E. Lockhart). Antony’s book is a nice change of pace because it involves kids in their own band and playing instruments like the guitar and drums. I have quite a few guitar players in my classes, so I’m hoping this book will be a great fit.

What I most enjoyed about this book is that nothing comes to easily for Piper; she really has to work and step up her game to get what she wants. Because she needs to break out of her shell, she also grows some confidence and looks past her deafness. It doesn’t happen in a snap, but it’s fun to watch her discover who she really is. The process also involves Piper’s tense relationship with her family. Her dad won’t/hasn’t learned ASL, her mom is paying all her attention to her now-hearing baby sister, and her brother won’t give her the time of day. Trying to work through that, while also trying to make Dumb hit it big throws some obstacles in her way. Thankfully, Piper is able to learn from it all without the book becoming cheesy.

If you want to read a humorous, fun and heart-warming book–mixed with plenty of rock, of course–then I definitely suggest you pick up a copy of Antony John’s Five Flavors of Dumb!