The Harmony Arms (An Avon Flare Book) - Softcover

Koertge, Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380721880 ISBN 13: 9780380721887

Publisher: Flare, 1994

Synopsis

Mortified by his movie-studio father's inclination to speak through a hand puppet rather than directly, fourteen-year-old Gabriel is further surprised when the neighbors at their new Los Angeles apartment are even more eccentric. Reprint.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7-10-- This hilarious look at the frantic, oddball L. A. scene through the eyes of a 14-year-old outsider from Missouri is a gem of quirky characterization and teenage angst. Gabriel's father, hired as a studio's creative consultant to adapt his children's picture book for television, is every teen's nightmare of ``parent as embarrassment.'' The boy is spending the summer with him and his furry hand-puppet creation, Timmy the Otter. At the Harmony Arms, the under-construction condo that the studio has rented for them, the McKays meet the neighbors: a 90-year-old nudist swimmer; a rollerblading, behemoth psychic whose predictions are only slightly off-target; an animal-rights activist actress; and her camcorder-toting daughter, Tess. Tess becomes Gabriel's guide, first to the City of Angels and later, to the uncharted territory of love and sexual attraction. They share mutual anger and confusion over the complicated, embarrassing, unfathomable actions and choices of their parents. Bizarre at first glance, Koertge's adult characters, for all their imperfections and oddities, grow on readers. Their love; wisdom; and solid, if seemingly unconventional, values remind all of us that the only truly perfect people are the ones created for television, not by life. As summer ends, Gabriel has a new perspective on himself and his dad. Although reminiscent of the off-beat Venice Beach world created in Francesca Block's Weetzie Bat (1989) and Witch Baby (1991 , both HarperCollins), Koertge's story is less fairy tale, his characters more fully fleshed out and human. His turns of phrase, language, and timing are rare in YA fiction, where ``funny'' books are in demand, but so hard to find. --Alice Casey Smith, Chappaqua Library, NY
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Gabriel and his father, Summer--a children's book author--have left their quiet Midwestern hometown to spend the summer in Los Angeles. While Summer meets with the Hollywood bigshots who want to make his character Timothy the Otter a household name, Gabriel explores the city with his new friend Tess and makes the acquaintance of his relentlessly zany new neighbors. By summer's end Gabriel has embarked on his first romance and confronted death for the first time. In addition, the big city's freewheeling ambience has allowed him to put his father's often grating eccentricity into perspective--a remarkable achievement indeed. Here, as in his previous books ( The Arizona Kid ; Mariposa Blues ), Koertge brings a light touch to a handful of major issues. However, the abundance of flashy local color becomes overwhelming, distancing the reader from what could have been an affecting and truthful story. Koertge seems unable to decide whether he respects his characters or thinks they are just a bunch of crackpots. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Flare
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0380721880
• ISBN 13: 9780380721887
• Binding: Paperback