Take a photo of a barcode or cover
opticflow 's review for:
King Dork Approximately
by Frank Portman
For how much I loved King Dork when I read it 8 years ago, this sequel is equally and painfully awful. It takes place immediately following the events in the first book, so if you're not recently aquainted, you'll be lost.
Then there's no plot to speak of. None. Remember how Y2K was a complete non-event in real life? So it's pretty odd to immortalize it in a teen novel, when not a single teen today was old enough to remember how anticlimactic it was. I have tried to explain Y2K to teens. It is something they cannot even wrap their heads around, because it seems so stupid. And the major plot of King Dork is undone by a revelation in this sequel. Not only did I not enjoy the sequel, the author has astoundingly undone my enjoyment of the first book! Well and truly idiotic move there.
Then the main character tries to glean insight into girls, bullying and how to be a King Dork from Revenge of the Nerds. Oh yeah, I remember that movie from the 80s when it was a crassly funny college buddy film. But my adult critical thinking 2014 brain now remembers it as the movie where the hero nerd rapes a girl, which makes her fall in love with him. This is not mentioned by Frank Portman. But by spending a chapter on Revenge of the Nerds, the book invites 2014 teens to seek out and watch this piece of shit film that celebrates rape culture and needs to stay buried in the past.
Let me paraphrase Tom's view of Naked Lunch with my view of King Dork Approximately:
"I defy anyone to say what it's about. It starts with a sexist guy recovering from a vicious bullying attack, I think. Beyond that, I really couldn't tell you, and since there's no story in there, at all, it's hard to see the point of someone's having written it. Or of reading it. You know, it really seems like all those 80s and 90s people were just so proud of all their sexism that every single one of them felt like he had to write at least one incoherent book to demonstrate it, or prove it, or celebrate it. This was one of those."
So my point is if you're going to write a sequel, maybe don't wait 8 years to do it, because you've lost your audience. But if you've already made that mistake, maybe consider that in the last 8 years the social climate has changed drastically, and make an effort to recognize that in your plot or your character development.
Then there's no plot to speak of. None. Remember how Y2K was a complete non-event in real life? So it's pretty odd to immortalize it in a teen novel, when not a single teen today was old enough to remember how anticlimactic it was. I have tried to explain Y2K to teens. It is something they cannot even wrap their heads around, because it seems so stupid. And the major plot of King Dork is undone by a revelation in this sequel. Not only did I not enjoy the sequel, the author has astoundingly undone my enjoyment of the first book! Well and truly idiotic move there.
Then the main character tries to glean insight into girls, bullying and how to be a King Dork from Revenge of the Nerds. Oh yeah, I remember that movie from the 80s when it was a crassly funny college buddy film. But my adult critical thinking 2014 brain now remembers it as the movie where the hero nerd rapes a girl, which makes her fall in love with him. This is not mentioned by Frank Portman. But by spending a chapter on Revenge of the Nerds, the book invites 2014 teens to seek out and watch this piece of shit film that celebrates rape culture and needs to stay buried in the past.
Let me paraphrase Tom's view of Naked Lunch with my view of King Dork Approximately:
"I defy anyone to say what it's about. It starts with a sexist guy recovering from a vicious bullying attack, I think. Beyond that, I really couldn't tell you, and since there's no story in there, at all, it's hard to see the point of someone's having written it. Or of reading it. You know, it really seems like all those 80s and 90s people were just so proud of all their sexism that every single one of them felt like he had to write at least one incoherent book to demonstrate it, or prove it, or celebrate it. This was one of those."
So my point is if you're going to write a sequel, maybe don't wait 8 years to do it, because you've lost your audience. But if you've already made that mistake, maybe consider that in the last 8 years the social climate has changed drastically, and make an effort to recognize that in your plot or your character development.