A review by nerfherder86
Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

3.0

14 year old Jamie runs away from military school and lives in shelters and on the streets of Portland, but then travels to Memphis on his own to try to get to his dying older brother's bedside. As he journeys on a bus (and ends up hitchhiking too) he writes a letter-journal to his brother about the many people he meets along the way. He also reveals why he was sent to military school (his father is very strict and was finally fed up with his many petty crimes and acting out) and what has happened to him since his brother left home years ago to move in with his boyfriend. A very dark book, with gritty realistic events like getting mugged and almost getting abused by lowlife creeps in motels. Jamie used drugs and there are references to blow jobs, etc. This one is definitely for mature high school readers. It is written in stream-of-consciousness style, since Jamie is not really a writer and just records his thoughts as they come to him; plus he is ADD and off his meds! Takes some getting used to reading this. Not really my kind of book, but the Printz committee certainly liked it, and it is kind of compulsive reading--you just want to see how it turns out for Jamie.