Author: Ron Koertge
Genre: Y.A. Literature
Other Y.A. works by Koertge:Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs, Boy Girl Boy, Strays, Deadville, Margeaux With An X, Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, Where the Kissing Never Stops, The Arizona Kid
Please visit Koertge's website for a complete list of works beyond young adult literature.
Stoner & Spaz is not a book I would typically pick off the shelf, but the title intrigued me because I was interested to see how the story depicted two of the many, many stereotypes found at any given high school. Benjamin Bancroft, Koertge's main character, is a victim of Cerebral Palsy and an over protective grandmother (I've yet to decide which is worse). He frequents a local cinema which is home to many classic horror movie reruns. During one of his routine visits to the theater, he encounters a less than sober Colleen Minou. She's clearly rough around the edges, and the two's glaring differences become even more so as Koertge's story unfolds to reveal a strange and miraculous relationship.
I wouldn't teach Stoner & Spaz to an entire class of students. There are a number of reasons for this, the first being that there's an incredibly uncomfortable sex scene between Colleen and Ben. The second reason is that, although it's pretty evident I'm not opposed to profanity, Koertge's novel is pepper with very strong and vulgar language. It's certainly appropriate for a book with a character like Colleen character to use such colorful phrases and expressions; in fact, Colleen would lost much believability if nearly all her dialogue didn't contain "fuck" and "goddammit" in it. I would, however, have this book available in my classroom. I'm sure I'll come across a future student who will enjoy, or perhaps even benefit, from a story such as Koertge's Stoner & Spaz.
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