Young Adult Reading
A trip down memory lane…here is a book that I read several times back in grade school in the 70s. It’s stuck in my mind all these years. The title is “Lizard Music,” by Daniel Pinkwater, and the name is an accurate description, and the book is absolutely bizarre - in a very cool way. A young lad is left home alone, and while staying up late and watching TV, he finds a channel that features a jazz band made up of lizards. Yes, real lizards. Seriously. He goes in search of said lizards, encounters an odd old man who has a chicken in his hat, and embarks on a journey to an invisible island inhabited by lizards who all share the same name. I re-read it about 10 years ago and was amused, both at the novelty of the book so many years later, as well as the “dated” aspect of it. I still recommended it for young readers.
I don’t recall that particular book. The only book that sticks in my head from that era is “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.” I don’t even remember much about it, except there was a little kid named nicknamed “Fudgie” who had a big brother he called “Petah.” Something like that. A far cry from “Lord of the Flies” but obviously good enough for me to remember it from 30+ years ago.