The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos

Reviewed by Lori
Scar Boys: A Novel
Title: The Scar Boys

Author:  Len Vlahos

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 80705

Description: In a college admission essay, eighteen-year-old Harry Jones recounts a childhood defined by the hideous scars he hid behind, and how forming a band brought self-confidence, friendship, and his first kiss.

Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love it!

Why I Read It: A great title and an interesting write up.

Lori's Notes: This book had me captivated in the first couple of pages.  The first page consists of a college admissions essay question.  The following pages and in fact the rest of the book is Harbinger "Harry" Jones' answer to that question.  Each chapter starts with a song title and performer.  The story begins with the critical event that caused Harry's disfiguring scars.  I must say this for me was a graphic scene.  I was brought to tears and laughed out loud within the first 15 pages of the novel.  Harry must endure a painful recovery that has him addicted to methadone before the age of 10, struggles with bullies at school, and an unknown future.  While Harry's mother is amazingly supportive, he struggles with his relationship with his father.  The school is a hostile environment for Harry until a popular boy named Johnny befriends him.  The boys start a band called the Scar Boys.  While shaky at first the band becomes good enough to tour.  But as the dynamics of the group changes Harry's views of himself change as well.

Recommended Readers: Grade 9 and Up.  A great novel for curriculum study and a good novel for boys.

Favourite Passages: 
"You see, Harry, even the tiniest little event, something that can happen so quickly that you would miss it were you to blink your eyes, can have long-lasting, far-reaching consequences.  One little thing can cause so many other things to happen.  And here is the secret...All these things that happen, if you don't control them, they will control you." (Page 14)
"Okay then, Harry," he said, "the best way to avoid getting hurt by something is to understand it." (Page 19)
"And just like that, I was accepted.  I was cool by association.  For the first time in my life, I was starting to fit in." (Page 28)
"It felt good to be moving.  Whether we were running away from something or toward something I didn't know, and I didn't care." (Page 48)
"And then, when we hit the eleventh grade, something strange happened.  Something no one anticipated or could have predicted.  The Scar Boys got good." (Page 48)
"Music, I discovered that night, was a sanctuary, a safe place to hide, a place where scars didn't matter, where they didn't exist." (Page 74)
"I'd stumbled onto my one true love, music, as an accident of circumstance." (Page 126)
"The fact is, sometimes we just don't see what we don't want to see." (Page 138)
"A person who looked like me didn't have the right to feel anything different, didn't deserve to be happy." (Page 147)
"I thought back to what Lucky Strike the Lightning Man told me, that I had to control things or they would control me.  I'd been putting the emphasis on controlling rather than on not being controlled.  And maybe that was upside down.  Maybe I just needed to figure out how to go with the flow." (Page 187)

Themes: Scars, Lightning, Bands, Friendship, Disfigurement, Near-Death Experiences, Road Trips, Family, Father and Son, Mother and Son, Coming-of-Age, Bullying

Cross-Genre Links: 
Music: Any Chapter Title Song and Artist
Websearch: Punk Music
Websearch: Types of Lightning
Quote: "It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree.  The wounds remain.  In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens.  But it is never gone."  ~Rose Kennedy

Post Reading Questions and Activities: 

  • Listen to the songs that are the chapter titles.  How does the music accentuate what the author is trying to convey?  Find another song to fit a chapter.
  • Are all scars physical?
  • How can music be a sanctuary?
  • Discuss Rose Kennedy's Quote above with reference to The Scar Boys
  • What is Harry's reaction to the bullies at school?  How does meeting Johnny help?  
  • Who are some of the positive and negative influences on Harry after his accident? Create a Venn diagram of your results.
  • How does being on stage in the spotlight help Harry's confidence?


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