This Book is Not Yet Rated

Written by Peter Bognanni

Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

In this enormously funny, smart, and moving contemporary YA novel, fighting for the thing you love doesn't always turn out like in the movies.

"Hilarious, big-hearted, poignant...An unadulterated triumph." --Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King

Movies have always helped Ethan Ashby make sense of the world. So when developers swoop in and say the classic Green Street Cinema is going to be destroyed to make room for luxury condos, Ethan is ready for battle. And so a motley crew of cinema employees comes together to save the place they love:

There's Sweet Lou, the elderly organist with a penchant for not-so-sweet language; Anjo, the too-cool projectionist; Griffin and Lucas who work concessions, if they work at all; and Ethan, their manager (who can barely manage his own life). Still, it's going to take a movie miracle for the Green Street to have a happy ending. And when Raina Allen, Ethan's oldest friend (and possible soul mate?), comes back to town after working in Hollywood--cue lights and music--it seems that miracle may have been delivered. But life and love aren't always like in the movies.

This Book is Not Yet Rated is about growing up, letting go, and realizing love hides in plain view--in the places that shape us, the people who raise us, the first loves who leave us, and the lives that fade in and fade out all around us.

"A beautifully written look at first love and first loss." --Julie Buxbaum, author of What to Say Next
"Film aficionados and fans of John Green will especially like this one." --Booklist, starred review
"It pulls you in, holds you...A funny and moving winner." --Adi Alsaid, author of Never Always Sometimes
"I cannot get over how much I love this book." --Jared Reck, author of A Short History of the Girl Next Door
"[A] sweet love story with a quest at its heart." --PW
"Reel[s] you in...Absorbing...quirky and fun." --VOYA

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984845597

[carolesrandomlife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed reading this book. This book first got my attention with its eye-catching cover and great title. After reading the book's description, I knew that I had to give this book a try and I am glad that I did. Once I started reading this book, the pages seemed to fly by and before I knew I had finished the entire book in a single morning. It really was the perfect book to lose myself in for just a little while.

Ethan loves movies. His life has been filled with movies and watches at least one movie every day. Ethan works at the small Green Street Cinema, which is not your average theatre. Ethan actually serves the role of manager at the theatre since the real boss has been missing in action for some time. This theatre plays lesser-known films and caters to a certain clientele and has more a few issues.

Ethan was a great character. He has had a hard time dealing with his father's sudden death just a few years earlier. He has really been in a holding pattern with the cinema being his refuge. I liked Ethan more and more as the story progressed and I learned more of his history. It was great to see him start to deal with the things going on in his life.

Ethan was best friends with a girl named Raina when he was younger. This was before she was discovered by an agent and was thrust into stardom. When she finds that fame isn't exactly what she wanted, she goes home and is suddenly back in her old friend's life. I liked Raina. She was really down to earth and had her own issues to deal with. I thought that Ethan and Raina were good for each other and loved how they came together to work on a problem.

When the cinema is scheduled to close, Ethan and the rest of the crew work to find a way to keep it going. I loved the quirky group of characters that worked at the theatre. They were all very different but as a group, they worked well together. The cinema almost felt like another character with all of its flaws, including a rather large rodent issue.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a very well written story about finding yourself while fighting for the things you care about and learning to move on. The book is filled with great movie quotes and references that add to the charm of the story. I would not hesitate to read more of Peter Bognanni's writing in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Penguin Publishing Group - Dial Books.

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seventeen year old Ethan is a serious film buff and the ad hoc manager of a quirky movie theater. Three years earlier his world was rocked when his father died suddenly and his best friend became a famous movie star and moved away without a word. After finding solace in spending all of his time managing the movie theater, his world is falling apart again because of the threat of the theater being shut down. Cinema lovers will appreciate the film allusions, and there is a certain amount of suspense regarding the fate of the theater. Most compelling, though, is the character development of the interesting folks populating this book.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As the author writes, this book is about "...a seventeen-year-old guy from Minnesota who is maybe in love with his best friend, mourning his dead father, in charge of many dysfunctional humans,…unsure what to do with the rest of his life and pouring his remaining energies into saving a movie theater nobody cares about." Ethan manages a decrepit classic movie theater, the Green Street, that is slated to be demolished. His father was a film professor and he taught Ethan to love movies at the Green Street. With his father gone, Ethan has nothing else...until Raina, the girl of his dreams abruptly leaves her Hollywood film set and returns to her hometown. Raina never called when Ethan's dad died and Ethan does not know if they are still friends or if his amorous feelings are mutual.
This Book is Not Yet Rated contains a cast of quirky characters including a foul mouthed octogenarian movie house organ player and a projectionist who has lived in the projection booth for 10 years. Film vocabulary is interspersed between every other chapter. Chapter One is the ‘establishing shot’. The next few chapters reel you in. Ethan's obsession with the Green Street and Raina's uncertainty about her budding Hollywood career are equally absorbing. Their relationship, with its ups and downs adds icing on the cake. The efforts the group takes to save the doomed theater are unique. Bognanni's sophomore novel is quirky and fun and film buffs, especially those loving Steve McQueen, will totally enjoy it.