Stephanie Kuehnert

This by no means was an easy story to read. Kara's life is hard. She parties all night long. She does multiple drugs and drinks herself into a stupor. If your looking for a quick feel good read, skip this one. If you are looking for a real account of a troubled teenager, this is for you.

I bought this book because it was on everyone's 'Best of 2009' lists. So I knew that it was going to be good but at first I didn't see what all the fuss was about. It was not a book that I just had to sit show more down and read but I would find myself thinking about these characters while doing mundane tasks around the house. They slowly crept into my head until the second day of reading when they firmly wedged their selves in my brain and I could not stop reading.

I completely related to these characters. If I would have grown up in a different place, I think this totally could have been me. Which is a scary thought. Thank the universe that I grew up in the middle of no where! I did some bad things as a teen but nothing compared to Kara and her friends. I was too well-adjusted. My family was too involved in my life to let things like this happen. But I was angsty and depressed enough as a teen to connect with Kara.

This is a dark story. It's heartbreaking. I shed a few tears. It's powerful. This book could be anyone's anti-drug. It's beautiful. On top of all the disturbing actions it's really just about friendship and love. Everyone needs to feel like they belong. Like their family loves and understands them. That's what Ballads of Suburbia is really about.

Another thing to add to the list of things I loved about this book is, the music references. I was pretty young in the early to mid 90's but I had a big sister. So we watched MTV. We were huge fans of Nirvana and just about any other 90's rock band. I still listen to that music today. It totally shaped my taste in music. So I loved that their was mentions of all these bands that I love.

Overall this book is not for the weak at heart. It's a tough story. If you ever felt like you didn't belong as a teen, then you should read this. It's not a book that I will put on the self and forget about. It will definitely be in my head for a long time. It's been over a week since I finished the book and every time I pass by my bookshelf and see it I want to pick it up and start reading again. I see what all the fuss was about. show less

I seriously loved I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone (review here), but my reaction after reading Ballads Of Suburbia makes Stephanie Kuehnert's debut a silly infatuation. Seriously. Stephanie has taken the rockstar elements of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and brought it to new heights in this latest release as her teenaged characters poured their heart and soul into music and drugs as a way to replace the hopelessness that they face every day. If I had to describe Ballads Of Suburbia using one show more word, it would be Raw with a capital R. Filled to the brink on emotions, I found the "ballads" (confessions) of each character powerful and believably honest.

Kara proves to be such a heartbreakingly shy main character who has to find her backbone and learn not depend on a razor blade, pot, parents, best friends who ditch you or don't take your side, and most importantly anyone with a Y chromosome (including those who say "I love you" but hurt you; and those who don't say it back when you do). It was rewarding to watch her gain confidence, then lose it, only to bounce back stronger, then lose it even harder, and finally finally manage to climb out from rock bottom.

What is more amazing is when I realized that her climb has only begun - she may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. Every day, every second, she has to make a conscious effort to not fall back into old patterns - and when she returns to her hometown, seeing her old friends up to their old tricks test her resolve.

Ballads Of Suburbia has a more serious vibe than I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, and it felt so beautifully real that I never knew what to expect, sometimes fearing that Kara was in way over her head, upset when the boys acted stupid (will they never learn?!), and holding my breath as life unfolded into utter chaos. Readers of the debut will surely find Ballads Of Suburbia to far exceed all expectations already set by I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and for the next Stephanie Kuehnert project (which, for the record, sounds amazing - and I love the working title: Anarchists, Soap Stars, And Regulars, though it will probably change).

The cover is a little quirky - that smile on the duck borders on Joker-spooky - but I think it totally goes well with the story since Kara and her friends frequently met at the park. Ironically, not to play on the playground, but play with other things of an addictive sort. If you feel like you don't know what the story is about from the cover or the book summary, don't be alarmed. Both are merely tips of the iceberg. To be honest, my own summary above hardly does Ballads Of Suburbia any justice. Trust me when I say that whatever you find within that iceberg will make you glad that you took that leap of faith!

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway!), Ballads Of Suburbia makes it official: Stephanie Kuehnert is a literary goddess of rock music and soul! show less

Kara goes to USC film school and loves ballads, those songs about one’s life and the events, decisions, and mistakes that make one who he or she is. However, she has never been able to write her own ballad, of her teenage years growing up in the Chicago suburbs amongst sex, drugs, music, and betrayal.

Her friends were all able to write their own ballads in their shared “Stories of Suburbia” notebook, but as Kara relives her teenage years, she realizes that her own ballad is a show more composition of all of her friends’, and a few others’ besides. Her story consists of a wrecked home life; a younger brother, Liam, whose heart she is always breaking; friends whose loyalties waver; and a boy who’s bad, but not all there is to her crashing-and-burning. And in the end, all the experiences help Kara realize who and what in her life are the most important of all.

BALLADS OF SUBURBIA left me reeling, thinking hard for hours afterwards. I share zero experience with Kara, and yet Stephanie Kuehnert masterfully pulls us into this dangerous, deceptive, yet enticing world of drugs. Only a talented writer can pull you into a world you know nothing about and make you feel as if you simultaneously understand and yet can never understand that world.

I know that I won’t be able to find the words significant to describe this novel, because what it covers is beyond my words. From family and sibling relationships to the ebb and flow of friendships and loves being made and broken, this book follows Kara through her high school years in the untalked about part of the suburbs. All of the characters seem to jump out of the page and walk around you like they are real, problems and all. Nothing is black-and-white: the characters have different and sometimes troubling attitudes, but it’s their (or, rather, Stephanie’s) ability to convince us of their justification for their beliefs that is truly great.

Overall, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA is a remarkable achievement that hits you right where it counts (your heart) and lingers where it matters (the brain). I’m truly looking forward to seeing what Stephanie Kuehnert will do next. show less

Whoa. Ballads of Surburbia was a gritty, real and honest book. It doesn't hold back AT ALL. It's one of those books you couldn't really say you enjoyed per say but are really glad you read. Another book I've said that about is Wintergirls but I much prefer Ballads of Surburbia, I sometimes felt like the book was suffocating me, but there is a reward within it when reading this book.

While the story was rather depressing at times and hard to read it was also exciting and tender. I love how the show more story of Kara's years in Oak Park are framed by her homecoming. You know she's come out of this almost disaster zone ok, but how did she make it, how did she get there? That's the story of Ballads of Suburbia. I love that the author didn't just start with Kara in high school, she picked pieces of her younger years that made her the person she was when she started high school, and because of that Kara comes off as a really sympathetic character. Yes, at times I wanted to smack her upside the head but for the most part you were taking the journey with her wanting her to come out of it ok.

Another interesting thing the author does is share all the main characters ballads (or stories) in the form of a notebook they all share, giving a snapshot of their background and the reason they are the way they are. And because of that all the character come off as sympathetic, some more so than others but still they all do. Weaving these rich stories for all the main characters makes the story a lot deeper than you would expect, it's really packed to the brim with emotion. show less