A review by dairyqueen84
Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II by Ron Koertge

3.0

Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II continues the tale of the fraught relationship between Ben Bancroft, the spaz, and Colleen Minou, the stoner. Ben wants to save Colleen from herself and her drug addiction and she is the only girl who he believes sees the real him and not his cerebral palsy. They became friends in the first novel after meeting at the movies. Ben is a budding film maker who has just had a successful showing of his first documentary at a local South Pasadena gallery, where he meets Amy or A.J., another budding filmmaker. Colleen left the event with another guy, confirming what Ben’s grandmother already thought about her. Ben knows his grandmother, who raised him after his mom left and his dad died, would prefer he fall for someone like A.J., clean-cut, upper class girl, with higher aspirations than just finishing high school and staying clean. Ben pursues a friendship with A.J. but comparing her to Colleen all the while, especially in the way she looks at him. He wonders what she sees and whether she is a potential girlfriend, whereas he feels he knows what Colleen sees, just him and he loves her for that. While Colleen struggles to stay clean, she convinces Ben to find and meet his mother with interesting results. He realizes maybe he wasn’t so bad off being raised by his grandmother. The all of thecharacters are well drawn including the secondary ones and readers will enjoy the disparate personalities of Ben and Colleen.