Punkzilla, by Adam Rapp, is a cross country roadtrip told in unmailed letters. Punkzilla (or Jamie), a runaway 14 year street kid who’s been squatting in Portland Oregon and surviving my stealing I-Pods, tries to make his way across the country to see his dying older brother. Riding Greyhound buses until he’s beaten up in a bathroom and left behind, Punkz relies on the kindness or weirdness of strangers as he struggles to get to Memphis.
Not an upbeat novel, Punkzilla portrays the realities of street life for teens who have no way to survive short of theft or prostitution. Road life means risking even more with no friends to fall back on. Despite his forays into mugging and theft, Punkz is a compelling character, who is trying to manage as best as he can.
It took me a while to read this book. I put it down shortly after I began it because I was thinking that I didn’t want to read yet another dark, edgy YA book about drugs, crime, and homelessness. I’m glad that I picked it back up again. I grew to really like Punkz.
probably too much sex, drugs and violence for MS readers. Punkzilla is a 2010 Printz Honor Book.
