The Bad Decisions Playlist

Review from School Library Journal:

Musically inclined Austin Methune is his own worst enemy. A decidedly lazy stoner, he seems to find motivation only in grandstanding for beautiful girls. Unfortunately for Austin, his attempts to impress have earned him a long history of mishaps, most of which are hilarious. As his junior year winds down and adulthood looms on the horizon, the teen is faced with a series of life-changing events. His longtime single mother is considering marriage to a man Austin despises, and his dead father turns up on his doorstep, a very much alive rock star. Realistically, Austin does not handle these surprises with grace and poise. Over a single summer, the protagonist deals with love, sex, drugs, and fallible parents. Somehow, he manages to mature and put an end to his playlist of bad decisions. This work is rife with funny little interludes and well-developed characters. While the story starts out slow and at times is corny in its lack of believability, persevering readers will be rewarded with a deeper tale about the hairier issues teens confronting adulthood encounter.