All Shook Up

And now, without further ado, I present the last of the twenty 2011 Rebecca Caudill Nominees, All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall. Take a gander at that cover over there to the left. Hoping not to offend, but that would be the "old Elvis". Army Elvis or just young and innocent Elvis or slim Elvis might have sold the book to me. Nah, it's late and I'm just kidding. But seriously. I just don't get rhinestone and leather with porkchops Elvis.

Thirteen-year-old Josh lives with his mother in Boston where they moved when his parents divorced when he was five. Usually, he spends a week here, a week there with his father in good old Chicago, Illinois where his father works as a shoe salesman. But then his grandmother, who lives in Florida, falls and breaks her hip. (Didn't another grandma by the name of Rain also fall and break her leg in another nominee? Schooled.) So his mom flies down to take care of his grandma while she rehabilitates and Josh is shipped off to Chicago where it is anticipated that he will be the next few ... several months.

It's bad enough that Josh has to register at a new school. That he has to leave all of his friends behind. That he has to start over in sports. That he has to find his niche in the cliques. But good ole Josh always manages. That is what a divorced kid does. He gets along. That, of course, would make for a pretty boring book. Josh has a surprise waiting for him in Chicago. His father lost his job when Murphy's Shoes was forced to go out of business. In the meantime, Jerry Denny, aka Dad, is trying to find himself by being someone else. He has become a singing, wiggling, jiggling, gyrating Elvis impersonator for hire. Josh just wants to know where the bullet is aimed so he can stand in its way.

Can you imagine waiting for your father to pick you up at the airport only to be confronted by a stranger in a bad Hawaiin shirt with a bad dye job and, could that be, eyeliner?!?!? There are many ways to mortify a teenager, but I think this one tops the list. The first night Josh is in Chicago, his dad ditches him for a gig. Add makeup and a black leather jacket to the mix. And don't forget the hairy chest revealed beneath the jacket. The reader is begging Jerry to zip that jacket up!

Jerry as the King also has a new girlfriend, Viv, with her own teenage daughter, Ivory, who thinks "the King" is cool. But then Ivory's a hippie with her own issues. Ivory seems intent on letting the cat out of the bag at school. Nothing like being the new kid at school who happens to be the son of the guy who thinks he's Elvis. I can feel for Josh, I really can, but that doesn't mean he's allowed to take matters into his own hands when his dad is invited to perform at his school!

Quick chapters are divided up into sections headed by lyrics from Elvis' songs. For instance "All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me." - "A Little Less Conversation," 1968. I think it would have been fun to include a CD to go along with the novel. I confess that I know some of the songs, but not all of them. Might be interesting to rent some Elvis' movies to go along with the book. While we're at it - road trip to Graceland!! This late, I dream big!