The Love Song Of Johnny Valentine (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Mothers, don't let your children grow up to be pop stars. Unless perhaps you can be their manager. Jonny Valentine is 11 going on 12. He is in the second year of mega-fame as a tween pop idol. Think Justin Bieber. His single mother, abandoned by his father when he was a toddler, is his manager. For an unreliable narrator, he is pretty savvy, but there are some things an 11-year-old boy just can't figure out.I read the book because of my long and ambivalent relationship with the music business. It's a manual on how pop stars are created and maintained. It also translates those stories we all pretend we don't read in People Magazine and the tabloids into what really goes on when two stars go on a date or end a romantic relationship, get a bad concert review, etc.The book is wildly entertaining even while it breaks your heart every time you remember that Jonny is still shy of his 12th birthday. As we follow him on a multiple city tour and learn how he has to sneak around to even send an email, how lonely he is, how little choice he has over what he eats, and on and on.If you want to maintain your illusions about celebrity in the 21st century, do NOT read this book. I think it belongs in an indestructible box of books we can save and all read after the apocalypse, as we rub our heads and say, "What were we thinking?" I feel the need to add disclaimers: This book is for adults. It is literature.Because when I tell you that it's a story about an 11-year-old pop star, you might think otherwise.Jonny is such a vibrant, interesting character. He's so savvy and so naive, and his story is both triumphant and depressing. I can't say enough good things about the story, which takes us behind the scenes and into the mind of a kid who's on the national (and soon to be international) stage as he deals with friendships (or lack thereof), family drama, his budding sexuality and the pressure to perform. It's thoughtful and deep, but also does a pretty darn good job of reminding us that this kid is just that. He's still developing, in every way. And it's worth watching as he does.
What do You think about The Love Song Of Johnny Valentine (2000)?
Well written, sad and timely. You can't help but put a current pop star's face on Johnny.
—dofuse
Written in the voice of an 11 year old pop star. This book really made me think.
—123456
