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    Tales of the Madman Underground

    Author John Barnes
    Ebook
    Penguin Young Readers | Speak
    On sale Jun 25, 2009 | 544 Pages | 9781101081938
    Grade 9 & Up
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    Wednesday, September 5, 1973: The first day of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of what he calls "the Madman Underground" - a group of kids forced (for no apparent reason) to attend group therapy during school hours. Karl has decided that senior year is going to be different. He is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act - and be - Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has five after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.
    John A. Barnes has been a journalist, writer, speaker, and television commentator whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Reader's Digest, and America's Civil War. He is currently a corporate communications manager with Pfizer Inc. Mr. Barnes lives in New York City. View titles by John Barnes
    • WINNER
      Michael L. Printz Honor Book
    "Rarely will you read something so lovingly vulgar, so fiercely warmhearted, and so exuberantly expansive . . . the culmination comes off like a teenage One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." -Booklist, starred review

    "His narration is so easy and engaging, so sweet and funny, so astonishingly truthful that teens will rip through these 500-plus pages and want more." -School Library Journal, starred review

    "Darkly comic . . . as troubled, relevant, relatable and hilarious as J.D. Salinger." -Los Angeles Times

    About

    Wednesday, September 5, 1973: The first day of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of what he calls "the Madman Underground" - a group of kids forced (for no apparent reason) to attend group therapy during school hours. Karl has decided that senior year is going to be different. He is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act - and be - Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has five after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.

    Author

    John A. Barnes has been a journalist, writer, speaker, and television commentator whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Reader's Digest, and America's Civil War. He is currently a corporate communications manager with Pfizer Inc. Mr. Barnes lives in New York City. View titles by John Barnes

    Awards

    • WINNER
      Michael L. Printz Honor Book

    Praise

    "Rarely will you read something so lovingly vulgar, so fiercely warmhearted, and so exuberantly expansive . . . the culmination comes off like a teenage One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." -Booklist, starred review

    "His narration is so easy and engaging, so sweet and funny, so astonishingly truthful that teens will rip through these 500-plus pages and want more." -School Library Journal, starred review

    "Darkly comic . . . as troubled, relevant, relatable and hilarious as J.D. Salinger." -Los Angeles Times

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