Randomize ME

Well, I guess this had to happen sometime … the author who was slated to guest post for today’s ‘Indie Saturday‘ was unable to provide us with a post. We got an email yesterday (Friday) that he was taken ill. We wish him well, of course, but it’s really a pity that he didn’t let us know beforehand as we could’ve given the slot to another indie author. So, that concludes our ‘Coming-of-Age‘ month!

Anyway, the blog’s resident book reviewer (Kris) thought it would be a pity to end the month like this, so she decided to write up a quick review for a random indie book that would still (kinda) fit within the theme of January. She chose Your Fifteen Minutes by Joey Aaron. Ugly cover, but she did like the sample. Here’s the review – thanks Kris for rescuing ‘Indie Saturday‘!

Book Description:

Fifteen-year-old Simon Land has a good thing going. He’s finally shed his vegan Oompa Loompa image.

With the help of a thrift store full of cheap Abercrombie and Polo, now he’s in the running for Best Dressed Prep. Even better, he’s caught the eye of serious hottie, Lindsay Booker, and he’s just about to take a major step up the high school social ladder. But Simon has a secret. He has an alter-ego, uberlonelyguy16, an emo air guitar fanatic who dreams of Internet fame. Not that it’s likely, since his YouTube channel doesn’t have any followers. Until one day, when he gets one fan, then another… then another. Now Simon is going to have to choose which is more important to him? Joining the ranks of high school royalty…? Or grabbing hold of his fleeting fifteen minutes of Internet celebrity.

A hilarious romp through the land of internet memes, high school dress codes, and depressed former Numa Numa guys, Your Fifteen Minutes takes on the many varieties of high school celebrity in the era of Rebecca Black.

Joey Aaron is a pseudonym for the writing team of a New York Times bestselling author and her teenage son.

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Your Fifteen Minutes by Joey Aaron is a very witty and funny take on  a low-key high school kid’s unexpected stratospheric flight into superstardom when his mockingly angst-ridden YouTube video goes viral.  It’s a very short book (coming in at a little over 100 pages) so I was able to speed read through it during lunch for this quick review. If you’re looking for something light to read that’s likely to tickle your funny bone, be sure to check this out  I for one was totally charmed.

Fifteen-year-old Simon Land’s social climbing ascent in his high school (fueled by shopping trips to a ‘high-end’ thrift store) is unexpectedly derailed when an embarrassing video blog he made in a pique hits YouTube’s most-viewed charts. Simon is appalled, but quickly regroups with the support of his best pals (improbably nicknamed Cock, Hondo and four Nicks – warning: these friends frequently steal the scene!). What follows is a hilarious adventure involving (in no particular order): a brisk internet tee-shirt business, a guesting in Good Morning America, a killer party to end all parties (aka ‘The Internet Celebrity Party of the Century’) and even American Idol’s Sanjaya doing  a cameo!

Simon is a cool protagonist – he’s funny and sarcastic, but a genuinely good guy. I loved how he just shrugged off everything thrown at him (including several run-ins with the school’s Vice principal Mr Stuckman). Simon learns a thing or two (or three) about the fleeting quality of fame, but then, he was such a well adjusted kid anyway – I thought he was pretty lovable pre- and post-internet stardom actually. The whole premise of the book was very silly, but what can I say, I enjoyed reading this one!

Your Fifteen Minutes by Joey Aaron (Trewellyner Press) is available on Amazon as a Kindle edition.

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