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Title details for Dunk by David Lubar - Available

Dunk

by David Lubar
Matt Golden
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
A sizzling young adult novel about Chad, a teenager living near the New Jersey boardwalk who becomes obsessed with the Bozo—the clown who sits above a tank of water, taunting people until they pay a couple of bucks to try to dunk him. But even as he tries to master the slashing humor of the Bozo, Chad finds he also needs to learn humor’s healing power if he is to help his best friend recover from a serious illness. Emotionally rich, filled with fascinating detail about life on the Boardwalk, this is David Lubar’s breakthrough novel.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    June 25, 2005

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781932076844
      • File size: 175175 KB
      • Duration: 06:04:56

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 3.8
    • Lexile® Measure: 520
    • Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
    • Text Difficulty: 1-3

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Matt Golden stars as first-person narrator Chad, a teen living in a town on the New Jersey shore. When he becomes interested in one of the clowns at the local dunk tank, he gets the idea of becoming a Bozo himself. Golden keeps the story moving and captures Chad's swinging emotions as he grapples with his fear of failure and his first romance. This full-cast production sports a fine supporting cast, particularly Craig Middleton, who turns in a fine performance as Chad's best friend, Jason. This engrossing look at life behind the boardwalk will keep listeners close to their headphones. A.F. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 23, 2002
      The slightly tawdry world of boardwalk arcades along the New Jersey shore is just one of the attractions of Lubar's (Hidden Talents) engrossing novel. From the first moment soon-to-be-11th-grader Chad hears the boardwalk clown hurling insults ("His voice ripped the air like a chain saw," the novel begins), the teen is mesmerized. The "bozo," whose witty barbs lure passersby to try and drop him into a water tank, represents all that Chad is not: "Nobody ignored him. Nobody looked down on him or told him he was a loser." The boy adds working as a bozo to his list of goals—along with seeing a certain girl again—for what he hopes will be "the greatest summer of his life." But plans go awry when a rival beats him to the romance punch, his best friend is struck with a life-threatening illness, and Chad has run-ins not only with the police but also with the bozo himself, a troubled man who sublets a room in Chad's house. As Chad surmounts each challenge, he shakes off the shadow of his deadbeat absent father and learns the difference between "a laugh that can cut you up worse than a knife" and laughter that heals. Lubar ably charts a watershed summer between boyhood and manhood; the boardwalk bozo serves as a deft metaphor for the power and control for which adolescents hunger. Ages 12-up.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 28, 2004
      From the moment that soon-to-be-11th-grader Chad hears the boardwalk clown hurling insults, the teen adds the job to his list of goals. In what PW
      called "an engrossing novel, Lubar ably charts a watershed summer between boyhood and manhood." Ages 13-up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:3.8
  • Lexile® Measure:520
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:1-3

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