Teen Fiction

Hollywood Hustle

Name: Hollywood Hustle
Author: Gordon Korman
ISBN: 9780786809196

by Gordon Korman

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Overview

When Vince heads out to sunny L.A. to go to college, he feels like he is finally going to be able to leave his shady family and their illegal antics behind. Once he arrives at school, he is paired up with the son of a prominent congressman as a roommate-finally some respectability! Not to mention that the girls in college are something else. With his girlfriend, Kendra, giving him such a hard time, Vince is beginning to wonder if single life is the way to go.

Eighteen-year-old Vince Luca, son of mob boss Anthony Luca, goes away to college in southern California hoping to escape his past, but soon his brother and a series of "uncles" appear at his dorm, and before long he is caught up in criminal activity once again.

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

"The Sopranos (minus the vulgarity and violence) meets Leave It to Beaver (minus the `aw-shucks' tone and dated sensibility) in this brassy, comical caper," said PW. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman is one of the most beloved contemporary authors of today with more than 40 middle-grade novels to his credit. He published his first book at the wee age of fourteen, which turned into the Bruno and Boots series- still in print! Also a tireless self-promoter, Gordon travels across the country and even travels abroad to promote his books. Originally from Toronto, Gordon and his wife, a teacher, now live on Long Island with their little boy.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature

This second installment in the "Son of the Mob" series takes Vincent Luca, whose father is the head of a New York crime family, west to college in southern California to study filmmaking and escape his awful family. His freshman year isn't exactly typical: his kleptomaniac roommate is the son of a congressman, a stunningly beautiful graduate stalks them both, and Vince's brother and related thugs with names like "Uncle Uncle" and "Gus the Greek" move into their dorm room. Poor Vince! Try as he may, he can't shake his father's mob and is soon involved in the kidnapping of a union leader, a double car chase, and the theft of student grant money. Of course, this leaves little time for attending classes (one of them is about the statistics of gambling), studying, or making a film. Vince almost flunks out, both from the university and with his girlfriend, but dad, the godfather, comes through at the end and even earns some respect. Billed as the tale of a "laugh-out-loud semester" (if you think the Mafia is funny), this adolescent male fantasy with its frantic action may appeal to some boys, especially ones who love "The Sopranos." It's hard to imagine a girl putting up with such nonsense, even though its predecessor was one of the ALA Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers. 2004, Hyperion, Ages 12 to 17.
—Barbara L. Talcroft

KLIATT

To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, November 2004: We first met Vince in the funny and acclaimed YA novel Son of the Mob as he was struggling to separate himself from his gangster family while dating Kendra, the daughter of an FBI agent out to get his father, a feared mob boss. As Hollywood Hustle begins, Vince is heading out to college in LA to be a film student, happy to be leaving his troublesome family behind. Or so he thinks?—?they keep showing up, and his conniving brother ends up crashing in Vince's dorm room. His roommate, Trey, is the blueblood son of a congressman, and Vince is delighted to be matched up with someone so respectable?—?until he learns that Trey is a kleptomaniac. Trey also involves Vince in a rally for the concrete workers' union, and Vince's father gets involved, too. And while Vince still adores Kendra, who is attending a college nearby, their relationship hits a rough patch. She's spending all her time on her lead role in a musical, while Vince is tempted by the beautiful girls he meets at school. Lots of action and lots of laughs, along with snappy dialog and some affecting scenes, too. Vince's many fans will be happy to follow his new escapades. KLIATT Codes: SA*—Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Hyperion, 268p., Ages 15 to adult.
—Paula Rohrlick

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Vince Luca, from Son of the Mob (Hyperion, 2002), returns, and this time he tries to get away from his family and "The Life" by moving to Santa Monica to start college as a film major. His high school girlfriend, Kendra, the daughter of the FBI agent who is determined to nab Vince's mob-boss father, is attending a nearby college, but they hardly see one another. When Luca mobsters from New York show up claiming they're "on vacation," Vince knows something is up, but isn't quite sure what until he attends a local rally for the concrete workers' union at the request of his roommate, Trey, the son of a powerful congressman. When Vince sees the so-called "tourists" in the audience, he assumes that they are there to make trouble. Meanwhile, he almost throws away his relationship with Kendra when he kisses a beautiful girl who has set him up so that Kendra's father can take pictures of them. He must also deal with his visiting mobster brother, who cheats some foreign students out of money, and with Trey's kleptomania. The somewhat complicated plot lines eventually come full circle and there is humor throughout the narrative. The pace is quick enough to keep reluctant readers interested. Korman avoids stereotypical caricatures by concentrating on relationships, particularly between fathers and sons. In the end, Vince comes into his own in this funny and somewhat over-the-top story.-Karen Hoth, Marathon Middle/High School, FL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Fast and funny with a hefty helping of heart, Korman's cleverly conceived and plotted followup to Son of the Mob (2002) will keep fans in stitches as hero Vince Luca, the son of a Long Island-based mafia boss, again tries unsuccessfully to extricate himself from "The Life." Determined to leave all things mob behind him, Vince crosses the continent to study film in California but soon finds himself up to his camera lens in dirty doings. Worse, the love of his life, who also happens to be the daughter of the FBI agent investigating his father, is starring in a pretentious classmate's film project and no longer has time for him. Although the focus is on funny, to his credit Korman doesn't ignore the harsher realities of the underworld nor the uneasy alliance between powerful fathers and their struggling-to-define-themselves sons. Even within the comic hyperbolic context, there are some credibility problems, but it's a minor quibble in a performance that's sure to leave fans begging for more. (Fiction. YA)