Like some of the other reviewers,I grew up in DG for 20 years(in fact,parents still live there) and picked up the book partly out of curiousity to see how my hometown was portrayed. The plot and characters are a bit undeveloped thus you don't feel any true connection building between yourself and the book. The pop culture references ala Prince imply that this was supposed to take place in the 80s(the decade I went to Downers Grove South High)but then throws in the "Kurt & Courtney"movie,an obvious 90s reference. I really felt like the book was a poor man's "Catcher in the Rye" than anything else. Maybe I'm just getting old but the teens were just amazingly whiny.

The thing that bugged me were the glaring mistakes about not only the town Downers and its teens but Chicago,in general. When writers research their material,they usually go into a comprehensive sojourn for accuracy. This is where Hornburg slips. Everyone in both the city and suburbs know that North Ave runs east-west,not north-south. Wicker Park is mispelled "Whicker". Bolingbrook is mispelled "Bowling Brook". While Downers Grove has about 3 movie theatres(the Tivoli being the oldest while the others are newer and are in strip malls)none of them would've ever shown anything as edgy as "Kurt and Courtney' .That's what the Music Box,Piper's Alley and Facets Multimedia in the city's for. And why did Hornburg feel the need to make Lemont Rd and Main St two separate roads? THEY'RE THE SAME STREET! As big as Downers Grove is,Hornburg chose to focus on most of the events between the train station,63rd and 75th streets. This would be fine if he sometimes didn't make Downers sound like a tiny one stoplight town. My biggest beef was,hands down, the portrayal of Downers Grove youth. Contrary to Hornburg's vision,we weren't all stoners,slackers and disaffected. Sure,we hung out,drove all around town keeping the local cops on their toes but since 1986 almost every DG teen,at one time or another,makes the White Castle on 75th and Lemont part of their weekend hangout ritual. Really,it's these personal touches that would've made the book a slightly better read and a more vivd blast from the past for its residents,past and present. It's a pretty quick read(I knocked it out in 3 hours)and,all in all,is light fare for what it is. Do yourself a favor and wait for the paperback,better yet,save your dough and check it out from the library.

As some one who grew up in Downers Grove I have to say that about 90% of the places and descriptions in the book actually do exist and are accurate. At times I thought the character's conversations were a little too clever and thought out, but all in all I thought Michael Hornburg did a good job in capturing the feel of the Chicago Suburb. He blows the myth that the community is a "Father Knows Best" type place and puts a real face on Downers Grove.

Right before the Christmas Break, a classmate of mine asked our senior English teacher what she planned to read over the break. She, off the top of her head replied, "Oh, this Stephen King novel I've been meaning to finish." We gasped. This, the woman who forced _Crime and Punishment_, _A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man_ and _Hamlet_ down our sometimes reluctant (but in hindsight, very grateful) throats, was going to read Stephen King! She looked at us, smiled and said, "You gotta have your Twinkie reads." And that is what _Downer's Grove_ is: a Twinkie read. Not too complex, but entertaining. I could see someone reading this while snowed-in for a few days or relaxing on the beach. You can read it in one sitting (it's not too long), or pick it up and put down while you do your laundry (you can pick it up days apart and still find your place, as I did). And it's important to have those reads. To relax. To be entertained. To take a study break every few hours. Not every book has to be _War and Peace_.

The plot is rather simple: Crystal is avoiding the senior curse where one senior dies before graduation while working our her feelings about her long-gone father, her new boyfriend (kinda boyfriend) and her mother's new boyfriend. The Booklist review pretty much gives the meat of the plot. While it seems like it could be rather unremarkable, the dialogue is witty and the characters have interesting personality quirks (Tracy, Crystal's friend, loves Hole and Crystal's brother). However, those qualities are often the book's shortcomings. The dialogue reminds me of _Buffy: The Vamire Slayer_: witty but unrealistic. I've never been to the Chicago suburbs, but I doubt everyone there has such a quick tongue. Also, the book is uber-contemporary. The girls listen to Hole and Nine Inch Nails. Not that those are bad bands, but I wonder if readers twenty years from now will know who/what those are.

But the one truly compelling qualitiy is Hornburg's portrayal of teenage girls. Being a Michael (appartently a guy), he has the unusual talent of wrting from a place he is supposedly unfamiliar. These girls come to life and at times it is hard to believe that was written by someone who had never been there before. The girls giggle and plot how they are going to meet the guys they like, not run over to them and fling their clothes off. The girls have other interests besides their weight or looks or boys. The girls approach their problems the way girls do, not the way adult men may like to think they do.

As for the geographical inaccuracies that other readers pointed out: not being from the area myself, I had no clue. Hornburg could have made up the whole town and I wouldn't have been the wiser.

This book can be put down and picked up two weeks later with little review. Can be read in one sitting. Won't make you think too deep, but will entertain you. So, depending on your mood this could be a great book. Actually, a great Twinkie read. So just relax and...Yummy!