80 Books No.49: The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne

I have a confession to make. It's pretty shameful. I'm an avid reader of the MailOnline's Sidebar of Shame. It's toxic but addictive, seeing celebrities completing the most mundane chores and judging them completely for having half of an inch long roots or an extra 0.5lbs spare around the middle. I should know better, yet I keep going back for more.

There is, of course, almost nothing the general public enjoy more than setting somebody up before watching them crash to the ground at top speed. Child stars are of particular interest, and so I come to this book. It's all about an eleven-year-old popstar on a make-or-break tour which could signal the end of his career, something his manger-mother isn't really helping with. It's basically Justin Bieber, but bear with me.

I read this quickly, partially because I wanted to see what happened - partially because I sort of just wanted to finish it. It wasn't that this was an awful book. Indeed, in places, it was very interesting and well-written. There were some eventful moments and it seemed to give some insight into what living like this would be like for a young boy. It was the way the young boy was drawn which was a little strange for my liking; I know a lot of eleven-year-old boys and none of them really behave in this manner. Admittedly, none of them have grown up in the spotlight which would affect anybody, but what Wayne hasn't managed to do here is to fully capture a pre-teen's voice in the same way that Emma Donoghue managed to capture a five-year-old's voice in Room. It's a tough ask, but then it is an ask he set himself in choosing Jonny as his narrator. I also think it could have been a more interesting story if Jonny was a little older, an actual teenager as opposed to on the borderline between child and teen; it would definitely have afforded greater scope in content and emotional range.

So it was an alright read, although not top five. Still for £2, can't wholly complain*.

*Re: this £2 thing which will probably crop up again in the near future and has done in blogs in the past: I'll share a little secret. The Book Trade Charity runs booksales of brand new books every 3 or 4 months. Here, you can get new and sometimes as-yet-unpublished books for £2 (paperback) and £3 (hardback), as well as many other bits and bobs at various prices. It really is amazing - it's like a really cheap book shop full of stuff you'd never normally consider. Here's the website: http://booktradecharity.wordpress.com/bookfairs/ It's definitely worth a visit.