Book Log: "Stoner and Spaz" by Ron Koertge

Part A: Book Summary

Stoner and Spaz by Ron Koertge
Pop Culture
Candlewick Press, 2002, 169p, $6.99
ISBN 978-0-7636-2150-6

Ben Bancroft refers to himself as a “spaz.” He's a 16-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, and he spends the majority of his time avoiding others. His body is deformed and he's embarrassed by it, so he holes himself up in his room, watching and analyzing films. On occasion, he gets wild and crazy and ventures out to the local Rialto Theatre - where he's sure to fit in with the other “misfits and luddites” (Pg. 3) - to catch a re-run of The Bride of Frankenstein.

One night, while sitting alone in the dark theater, Colleen Minou plops herself down beside him. Ben knows Colleen from school; she's the resident dope dealer. After some conversation, Colleen lures Ben into writing a book report on The Great Gatsby for her. This begins a rather strange relationship.

Ben shares with Colleen all the perils of having CP, and Colleen shares her pot with Ben. For the first time in his life, Ben has met someone who isn't afraid to talk to him about his disorder, and in Ben, Colleen has found someone who won't think less of her because she does drugs. The couple engages in conversations about films, books, the loss of their parents, and everything else affecting young people today. The couple also engages in Ben's first sexual activity. Soon after, the Ben-Colleen romance begins to unravel.

Colleen, who often goes on drug binges, smoking marijuana to mellow her out and snorting cocaine to lift her back up, has a bad experience and gets very ill. Ben helps her check into a hospital, and when she's released, she begins to turn her life around. During this time, Ben begins working on his own independent film with the help of Marci, his next-door neighbor with production know-how and equipment. Colleen joins him as his date for the public showing of the movie, but wanders away from his arm soon after they enter the gallery door. Before long, Colleen has met “Nick,” a shadowy figure with a splif, and soon after, she's telling Ben she's not having fun anymore. She leaves Ben to head out dancing, climbing into faceless Nick's car. “We can still, you know, call each other and fool around and go to movies and stuff,” she tells Ben. (Pg. 167) In the final scene, Ben watches Colleen's long, white legs disappear into Nick's car as he hears his grandmother calling for him in the background.

Three quotes:

“There it is again: those eyes of hers locked onto mine. Nobody ever looks right at me. Nobody talks about my disability. Nobody ever makes a joke about it. They talk toward me and pretend I'm like everybody else. Better, actually. Brave and strong. A plucky lad.” (Pg. 10) Ben is blunt. He doesn't want people to treat him like a “spaz,” but because they're all so uncomfortable with his condition, they do. He has a curled hand and one leg shorter than the other, and he dwells on that fact because of the strange looks he gets from day to day. When Colleen comes along, she acts in the opposite fashion. She treats Ben like a normal human being. She accepts his disability without prejudice, which is a very powerful lesson for young adults to learn.


“Remember when Marcie asked us what kids are passionate about? Well, I like drugs. I'm passionate about drugs.”

I shake my head. “Not all the time. You could be like those Buddhist guys – you fall down, you get up.”

“No, I like falling down too much.” (Pg. 113-114) This shows the reader two sides of a coin: overcoming your miseries or drowning in them. All young people face adversity. Life is so fast-paced and disheartening, at times, that it may be easy to “fall down.” Ben urges Colleen to get back up, to get over her disability, even though he knows he'll never be separated from his.


“Benjamin, I don't know what you see in that girl. But I do know this: everybody, and I mean everybody, stands in front of the mirror and wishes they were different.” (Pg. 128-129) While Ben's grandmother is the least likable character in the book, she proves here that she knows what's going on in her grandson's head. She understands what every teenager thinks far too often. It's hard to fit in when you're young, and when you're young, all you want to do is fit in. This book tells young people that we're all flawed, and that you have to accept those flaws before you can accomplish anything else.



Part B: Creative Response

Benjamin Bancroft's Favorite Flicks
(as cited throughout Stoner and Spaz)

The Wolf Man / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034398/
My Left Foot / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097937/
The Magnificent Seven / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/
Bride of Frankenstein / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138/
King Kong / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/
The Natural / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087781/
Field of Dreams / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/
Karate Kid / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087538/
Water World / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114898/
Fight Club / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/
Mission: Impossible / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117060/
The Sound of Music / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/
Duel in the Sun / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038499/
Saturday Night Fever / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076666/
Invasion of the Zombies / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058208/
Apocalypse Now / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/
Devil Girl From Mars / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046907/


Part C: Critical Response
A.

Stoner and Spaz was a fun book because Ben's voice made it exciting. It was easy to empathize with Ben, a teenage boy afflicted with cerebral palsy. Written in first-person from his point of view, readers were able to wear the shoes of someone with a disability. Ben pokes fun at himself and his condition, but does so with a comical sarcasm that reminds you that he's just a teenager, after all. The story gives young readers an inside view of the mind of someone like Ben, someone who teenagers might not be accustomed to empathizing with at first. The book also talks about various cliques in Ben's school, with a wide range of background characters such as the skateboarders, the stoners, the writers, the teenage moms, and the cheerleaders. Koertge paints a picture of your typical high school, where everyone is a wallflower like Ben from time to time. And although her character is uninhibited and reckless, readers can relate to Colleen. After she explains the hardships she's been through in her life (like when her mother's boyfriend tried to get “friendly” with her at the age of ten, and when her mother wouldn't believe her complaint), it's easy to understand why Colleen turned to drugs to pull herself through.

B.

Koertge stole a page right out of The Chocolate War, because the only conflicting feelings I had about Stoner and Spaz were regarding the ending. Although Colleen manages to pull Ben out of his shell, to show him pieces of life that he otherwise would've missed, she leaves him behind to pursue her “intoxicating” lifestyle. Ben is better off since Colleen came into his life. She helped him find a self-confidence that was previously foreign to him, and even though the book ends with Colleen's long, white legs disappearing into another guy's car, I think Ben will continue this metamorphosis, with our without her. I think this is the kind of balance Koertge was looking for. He provided a light-hearted love story without a happy ending. Maybe the “spaz” should've ended up with the girl, after all, but I think Koertge was familiar enough with the characters he created to know that Colleen wasn't ready to settle down with Ben, or anyone else for that matter.

C.

1.Everyone wants to be different. Ben's grandmother says it best: “Benjamin, I don't know what you see in that girl. But I do know this: everybody, and I mean everybody, stands in front of the mirror and wishes they were different.” (Pg. 128-129) Ben is constantly insulting himself, wishing he were different and didn't have this debilitating condition. It's not until he meets Colleen and begins working on an independent film, interviewing other students in his school, that he realizes how diverse everyone is and that everyone has their own shortcomings and disappointments. This is universal, for sure. I think all teenagers go through “identity crises” where they try to figure out who they are supposed to be and how to eliminate their flaws. Everyone wishes they were different in some way or another.

2.No matter how bad you have it, someone else is worse off. Ben thought life in the plastic bubble created by his grandmother was difficult. He had no idea how rough life could be until he found Colleen. He watched her ride a roller coaster of destruction, and he tried to help her get her life back on track. Ben's the one born with a disability, yet he supports his friend and makes an attempt to help her improve her life. It's the point when Ben realizes that he doesn't have it so bad, after all. This, too, is universal, however I'm sure American children forget just how good they have it all too often. World problems, like poverty and disease, are often “out of sight, out of mind” in the U.S., and young people here are accustomed to whining about their disappointments because they don't know that they could've been dealt a much more unfortunate hand.

3.Young adults need guidance, not restraint. Ben and Colleen are train wrecks, but for very different reasons. Ben has been coddled by his grandmother to the point that she hassles him to eat his prunes each morning to keep him regular. Colleen, on the other hand, hasn't had a strong parental influence since the day she realized she was “on her own” at the age of ten. (Pg. 70) Ben became an introvert and failed to interact with other people his own age for fear of being made fun of. Colleen became a pseudo-sociopath with a drug addiction. It's a hard line to tow, knowing how much parenting is too much or too little. Parents must be there for their children unconditionally, but they have to know where to draw the line. As children grow, parenting practices must take new shape. This is definitely universal, however I'm sure varying cultures call for varying approaches.

D.

Stoner and Spaz would definitely be included in my school's literary canon, simply because Ben Bancroft needs to be heard. Far too often, we turn our heads away from people with disabilities. Koertge creates a lovable character in Ben, one who has much to be said and heard. The reader soon learns how silly it is to ignore people like Ben. They learn that it's perfectly fine to talk to them, and dialogue from the book can even give the reader an idea of what may or may not be politically correct to say to someone with a disability. National diversity isn't necessarily portrayed in this book, but the entire book is about diverse attitudes and ways of life, so I would highly recommend it.


Other works by Ron Koertge include: Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, Fever, Deadville, and Where the Kissing Never Stops.