ALL SHOOK UP

Langbert’s debut YA novel portrays a teen’s coming-of-age in the 1950s as Elvis Presley arrives on the music scene.

It’s 1956 and 13-year-old Paula Levy lives in the New York City borough of Queens. She loves rock ’n’ roll, and her only friend is Margaret Feldman; her father and Paula’s grew up together in Germany before moving to the United States. Paula’s family isn’t very chatty and unfavorably compare her to Margaret: “You know that it...disappoints your father when Margaret does better than you do.” Margaret’s family, meanwhile, converses on a variety of topics at every meal. One day at the record store, Paula notices that Barbara, one of the local “cool girls,” has the novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951) sticking out of her pocket, which is Paula’s favorite book. Paula starts conspicuously holding her own copy of the book as she walks down the school hallway, hoping the Barbara will notice. Soon, Barbara asks Paula if she wants to sit with her during lunch (at a table behind a pillar). This unusual pair begins a secret friendship, connected by Elvis and Holden Caulfield. As their friendship grows, Paula tests boundaries and tries things Barbara does—skipping Chemistry Club, being “alone without any grown-ups,” and smoking cigarettes. Langbert adeptly weaves teenage angst and rebellion with some very adult problems; the former includes Paula passing judgment on Barbara’s friend by invoking Catcher in the Rye (“What an idiot. What would Holden think of Sheila? Nothing. She was too stupid for him to even notice”), and the latter, the effects of the Depression on Paula’s mother. The author also ably touches on abuse, teen pregnancy, and antisemitism, while compellingly addressing Paula’s parents love-hate relationship with their home country of Germany. Overall, the author effectively provides a snapshot of a teenager’s life in 1956 against a backdrop of national and world history.

An authentic-feeling, wide-ranging tale of mid-20th-century teenage turmoil.