Born to Rock by Gordon Korman

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: Cheating, Music, Education, Coming of Age, Stereotypes, Family
Grade Level: Young Adult
Curricular Connections: Music (punk rock), Social Studies (Young Republicans)

Leo Caraway is on a fast track to Harvard: President of the Young Republicans, 4.0 grade point average, and believer that we are the creators of our own fate. And he's a good kid. But after standing up for a classmate, he is accused and found guilty of cheating, even though he didn't, and his scholarship to Harvard is taken away. Then he finds out that his biological father is none other than Marion X. McMurphy (a.k.a. King Maggot) of the punk rock band Purge. (Readers are told that the Sex Pistols were the godfathers of punk. Purge is a close second.)

Leo arrives at the press conference where Purge is announcing their reunion tour. Before getting thrown out in to the alley, he gives King a letter explaining. A meeting is arranged, Leo meets King, and gets a job as a roadie for the summer tour while they wait for the DNA results. In the end the truth about Leo's father is revealed and Leo develops a strong relationship with King Maggot, including King driving a motorcycle through the assistant principal's office window for him. How punk is that?

Classroom Suggestions:

1. Leo's friends include a variety of stereotyped characters from typical high schools. A goth girl, a gay classmate, an anti-gay administrator, and plenty of teen/punk angst. Study stereotypes and what is revealed about the person behind the image. When a goth girls is forced to camp for an extended time and is unable to keep up the goth image, does a different person appear? Why/why not?

2. How could you resist a unit (a short one...turned down) on punk rock music? Play Ramones, The Clash, Sex Pistols, etc. Look at how bands like this have influenced bands of today.