I was at the library one day when I found this book on the shelf. I first noticed the cover and then I noticed the title. It totally caught my attention and I thought it would be fun to read so I checked it out. It is SUCH a good book!!!... I could seriously not put it down. I just finished reading it today and take my word for it-this book is one of the best! I was into it the whole way through! ITS AWESOME!

This is the greatest book EVER. I bought it because the title made me laugh, and I found out that the rest of the book was just as funny. This is the book that got me interested in tennis, and Im going to play on my school team next year because of it. I think that Stan seems like a very real teenage boy, and so does Ginny. My favorite character was Antonia Wheeler. Although, I did really like some minor characters like LeRoy Blankenship and the man in the bathroom. Id recomend this book to anyone.

One day I went to our school library and I noticed this book called The Whistling Toilets. I thought it was going to be some pathetic guy book where they just do stupid stuff, but this book had some major quality.
Stan is a 16 year old boy who coaches a tennis team. His best friend, Ginny (15) just came back from a tournament and Stan realizes he has feelings for her. Turns out he gets to coach her in a national tournament!! The book is REALLY funny, with some odd parts, especially the ending.
The Whistling Toilets will remain unknown!

Got this after a desire to collect the 9-11 comics as my ending run in comic collecting, and I must say I am impressed with not only the size of it, but the consitent and diverse work inside. Loads of unfamiliar work that perhaps wouldn't be seen on such a public level with such quality, and at 200 pages for the price its at, its damn good.

The stories themselves? Some make you think. Some make you wonder. All make you remember.

There's really not much I can say about this book. The stories contained in it are poignant and touching and heartbreaking and hopeful all at once, and each and every contributor has given not only their time and talent to the project, but clearly they've also given a piece of their hearts. Being born and raised in New York City, the events of September 11th are especially painful to me, but I came away from reading this book feeling just a little more hopeful than I did when I started it. Kudos to all involved for a magnificent effort. (And all of the money goes to a good cause, too!)

The power of the comic book medium is that, by using drawings, they express emotions and reactions that are difficult to put down in words. Due to the extreme nature of this event, this is an excellent way to express what we have all been through.

The most impact is provided by the independent, i.e. non-superhero, writers who express what they went through with pictures and words. From the initial shock to the lingering malaise, the complete cycle is expressed. Reading this book brought back those feelings in me and, even though my emotions were swelling up, I kept reading. This event is now part of our collective experience and we are forever affected by it.

I recommend reading through when you need some perspective on what's important in life. Enjoy life, tell your friends and family that you love them because you never know when it may end.

This review doesn't get too into the content of the book but the impact that it had. As for me, that's the sign of a good read.

Biff is a senior in high school who has never had a girlfriend. He has worshipped a girl named Tommie from afar for over a year, but just can't seem to get up the courage to call her. He is still enamored with Tommie when he meets a niece of a family friend and unexpectedly falls for her. I thought this book was funny and true to life -- I recommend it.

Studying for my Masters degree in library science, had to review 100 ya books----this was my number one pick by a long shot! Brilliant character development.

This book was really interesting. The author makes u think Biff is gonna go for Tommie (the girls he's had a crush on for 23 months) but he actuly goes for the other girl, its a really interesting book and i really enjoyed it!

Many people would admire Grady, having a world-famous rock star for a mom. But when she dies of a drug overdose, Grady doesn't know where he belongs. His stepmother is very religious, and she and Grady fight all the time. Plus, he loves his mentally disabled brother Louie, but Louie also drives him crazy sometimes. I thought Grady was a great character, just like a real guy who missed his dead mother. I liked him and wanted everything to work out for him. It's too bad the book's cover is so"cartoony" that it doesn't give an accurate picture of how realistic the book is. I liked the look into the rock music scene and how that life can affect real people.

Hardcore skater Grady isn't thrilled with life after his rock-star mom overdosed a year ago, now he has to live with his grandmother who wants to tour the country with her new boyfriend in a Winnebago. Grady decides to visit other relatives, and his half-brother Louie in the pacific northwest...and to top it all off, mom's old band wants to get together and have a tribute concert and they want Grady to open the show with a few words...but all Grady can do is picture his absent mom and her final moments: choking on her own vomit.

If you liked this book, try _Dean Duffy_, a great read about finding your little place in the world.

In the great recent tradition of jarringly real young adult fiction from the likes of Bruce Brooks and Chris Crutcher, comes Randy Powell. Winning kudos from such taciturn review sources as Kirkus and high praise from the American Library Association for his earlier works Dean Duffy, The Whistling Toilets, and Is Kissing a Girl Who Smokes Like Licking an Ashtray?, Powell delivers a page-turning speed read with well-developed and memorable characters that break and mend hearts, readers' and each others'. Grady Grennan is the son of Debbie Grennan, the titular dead rock star --- something along the lines of a cross between Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. There's to be a tribute to dead and inattentive Mom and Grady is to have a role in that, but he's not sure he wants it. There's also his mentally retarded half-stepbrother (the relationships in this book are complicated and mostly dysfuctional, but honestly portrayed) named Louie, one of most endearing of the cast, and certainly the frankest, unsentimental portrayal of retardation this reader has yet seen. Vickie, the wife of Louie's father, is amazingly frustrating and is without doubt, one of the most interesting stepmothers since Cinderella's; her personal revelation in the closing pages of the book make it easily the most satisfying young adult book I've read this year. Powell is quickly becoming a writer of note for this generation of young people. Highly recommended.

The book I read was called Dean Duffy. It is written by Randy Powell. I choose this book because I like Randy Powell's books. I also liked it because it was a baseball book and I like baseball alot.
The main character in the book is Dean Duffy. He is a high school legend. But his last two seasons weren't too good. So he sets out to find what he is worth. So he takes an apartment sitting job in Seattle. There he meets up with some old friends that he was teammates with back in high school. He also meets this girl named Karin in a fast food restaurant. He gets together with her and goes out on a couple of dates with her.
While he is in Seattle this coach from Shute College named Dick Dargo gives him a one semester scholarship to play baseball but if he proves him self he will get a full scholarship. So this puts even more pressure on him because he likes Karin. So he tries to put off everything in his life so he won't have so much pressure on him. So when it was time to make his decision he chooses to.......
The author used a lot of literary elements in his book. One of them was foreshadowing for example Dean said " I wonder what would happen if I did accept the scholarship maybe I will become pro or maybe it will just be a waste of my time."
I would recommend this book to about almost everyone who like baseball books because I really liked it alot. The only bad thing about the book was the ending and if you were to read it think you will think the same way I do about the book.

The book Dean Duffy is a good book. It is about a high school baseball player who is a superstar until his junior-year slump. He has to make a lot of decisions in this story,like which college to attend or whether or not to attend a college at all. This is a good book for sport fans, and people who like to see how other people solve problems.

A Review by Corey

Dean Duffy is a young adult just out of high school. He was an awesome baseball player his freshman and sophomore years, the he went in to a huge slump his junior and senior years. He could never figure out why. But over the summer he is offered a full scholarship to a college he'd never even heard of. Almost the entire summer he is apartment sitting and doing a little work just to make enough to keep him alive. Not doing much gave him a lot of time to think about what he is going to do with the rest of his life and if he really wants to accept the scholarship.

This is an excellent book that allows the reader to connect with it very much (Especially if you are a baseball player). It is very realistic and there are many conflicts that are similar to the world as it is today. The characters definitely keep you in the story because if you are a high school student I'm sure you know what people just like them, such as stoners, arrogant people, and the kind of people who are willing to do anything for you because they believe in you so much. The pace is very nice and you don't get lost from quick changes in characters.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves to play baseball or is just in the mood for a good book because you can relate to almost all of Dean Duffy's problems.

I found it difficult to believe that high school students would be interested in this story, which seems to focus more on Gardner Dickinson's father's mid-life crisis than on the teenager and his struggle to deal with the problems this causes for his family. Although there are some elements that usually draw teen readers in--such as the hint of romance, and Gardner's increasing interest in running--the story didn't suck me in or keep me interested. It was sort of a depressing look at parental unemployment and mid-life ennui, without any analysis of the effect that has on individual teens. I won't reveal the ending, but I will comment that it seemed unlikely that a high school student would make the choice Gardner did.

Your watch is ticking. You wait as Deshutis and Beaterson toss around the ball waiting for Savage to show up. You know in your mind that he's not going to show, but your heart says wait. He used to be your best bud! You got to give him one last shot right? But then again he stood you up! He wasted your valuable field time. So it's either time to find a replacement or stick with Cade "no show" Savage. Your at a disadvantage though. Every other team as all of the usual flag football players and the number of people who are interested and not on a team are few. And filling Cade's shoes isn't going to be easy. You need an "oyster" and pronto, otherwise you're not going to be able to play this season. So what are your choices as a replacement? Deshutis recommends Tim Goon, a guy from his apartment complex. But when you go to check him out, he's not what you have in mind. You don't want a "pretty boy" on your "tough guy" football team. There's always Thor, the ladiesman. But he might lead you down the path of another Cade. Then again there's always Rachel Summerfield, a very sporty girl. Sure she doesn't shave her legs, but she's good. But she pushes the guys out of their comfort zone, so the guys are faced with a tough decision. Should they go with Summerfield the GIRL, who makes the boys feel uncomfortable, Thor, the womanizer, Goon, that Flint describes as a Wayne Newton with breasts, or should they stick with Cade? To find out who becomes the teams new "oyster", read Three Clams and an Oyster by Randy Powell. This book is no more then just football, it's about struggles in life and friendship. It's a great book and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is faced with decisions in life!