A "deeply affecting" account of a community of students planning an extraordinary prom night ( Entertainment Weekly).
Journeying through "a year in the life of a suburban Pennsylvania public school," Wonderland takes us to Pennsbury High, whose spring dance is a beloved tradition and a local legend ( The New Yorker).
It's an inspiring true story of a dance floor, the kids who fill it, and the unpredictable ways that their lives intersect. The star quarterback hides the pain of not knowing where his father is. A student with cerebral palsy is desperate to learn to tie Eagle Scout knots, despite a useless left hand. Two teen parents search for a babysitter so they can attend the festivities. And then there is Bob Costa, who dreams of bringing glory to the school by convincing John Mayer, whose song "Your Body Is a Wonderland" is an anthem for the students, to perform at the prom. Poignant, humorous, and joyful, this is "a captivating story about a small-town" ( The Philadelphia Inquirer).
"Vivid, engaging... Something of a real-life teen soap: its intertwined storylines and folkloric personalities certainly draw you in the same way." - The Atlantic Monthly
"A book that is as good as it ever gets." -Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights
Autorentext
He was bron in Patchogue, NY on the Soputh Shore of Long Island and graduated from Patchogue-Medford High, a school much like Pennsbury, in 1978, 25 years prior to the prom about which he will be writing. He graduated from the U of Penn in 1982.
Bamberger has been writing about high school kids all his writing life, from covering his own school as a student for his hometown paper to covering Kobe Bryant as a high school senior for SI. He is the author of two books: The Green Road Home (Contemproary, 1986) and To the Linksland (Viking 92). Both books, about golft, were reviewed generously. Bamberger has also written for The New Yorker and the New York Times, both in the book review adn on the Op-Ed page. he has also written and produced a play, "Bart &Fay" about a friendship between Bart Giamatti and Fay Vincent, and has helped two fiends with their published books. He lives in Philly, with his wife and children, not far from Pennsbury.