Rockoholic by C.J. Skuse (review)

British teen Jody has always been difficult, the kind of girl who starts food fights at funerals and causes traffic accidents trying to rescue doomed turkeys. She gets it from her grandfather, who was himself a bit of a handful, arranging his own death by crashing his wheelchair at high speed through the window of a sex shop to avoid more suffering through late-stage cancer. Jody’s best friend, Mac, has always been her anchor, but even he is stymied when she accidentally kidnaps Jackson Gatlin, the lead singer of her favorite band, a scenario that is oddly plausible given that Jackson is stoned and dazed following his concert and eager to get away from his thuggish manager. Jody can’t imagine her luck at having the world-famous Jackson all to herself, but his diva demands and disgusting detox process strip away all of her naïve romantic fantasies and leave behind a guy who seems more like a needy brother than a larger-than-life hero. Mac, on the other hand, assumes more heroic proportions as Jody slowly begins to realize that the boy she thought was her comfortable, reliable gay BFF might not be gay after all, and may be more than a BFF. Skuse deftly exposes the seedy side of fame and fan culture as she takes readers from mosh pit to recovery room, and then through the unpleasant process of Jackson’s detoxification, his well-founded fears of an out-of-control manager, and the persistence of an unscrupulous press. Through it all, Jody emerges as more hapless and naïve than her worldly pose suggests, and her trials with Jackson help her break out of the grief-induced malaise that has plagued her since her grandfather’s diagnosis. Spirited, engaging characters in a situation that holds up even when the fantasy of it breaks down will give readers lots to think about as they enjoy Jody’s unprecedented predicament.