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What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About?
What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About?
What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About?
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What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About?

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"Dear Diary: I am still a virgin, which is not so unusual if you've never had a boyfriend."

What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About? is a mother-daughter road tale from the comic diary of fourteen-year-old Piccolo Poggioli. On a trip stretching from Niagara Falls to Las Vegas, Piccolo and her operatic mother Judy fail at being adventurous and fall out with everyone they meet, from rich slimeball Uncle Spike to their adopted Irish Setter Salsa, who is either autistic or hates their guts.

It’s not only the dog that doesn’t warm up to them. Hippie pet therapists, Las Vegas showgirls, ex-game show hosts, and crackpot relatives pose as human roadblocks to happiness on their fractured journey. Filling in the cracks are evil temp agency bosses and lewd truckers. Piccolo longs to go home, but her parents are not quite ready to merge again.

Early on, Piccolo replaces her diary’s cheesy affirmations with her own sarcastic sayings, pet peeves, random factoids, and slogans from bumper stickers and t-shirts. Best discovery in the category of Bathroom Graffiti: “What If the Hokey Pokey Really is What It’s All About?” By the time Piccolo and her mother wash up at the St. Pius X homeless shelter, this slogan has begun to seem downright deep. Ironically, Piccolo’s love of words and the classic story she’s been reading the entire trip, Les Miserables (from the book, not the musical), helps her and her mother find their way back home again.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherRebecca Burke
Release dateNov 22, 2011
ISBN9781465897879
What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About?
Author

Rebecca Burke

The young women in my three Young Adult/crossover novels face tough tests with humor, intelligence, and a fierce heart. Of course, this is easier for fictional characters than real human beings!When I was a teenager, I worked in fields and factories like Carmen, the main character in When I Am Singing to You. And like Valerie, in The Ahimsa Club, I've always been passionate about animals and wish they never had to suffer. But I've never gone on a cross-country road trip with my mother, like Piccolo in What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It's All About? Too bad--we would have laughed our way up and down the interstate, feasted on good food whenever possible, and stayed only with people we liked. We never would have adopted a stray Irish Setter because our family dog was a setter (the runway models of the dog world). We'd never make that mistake again.Two and one-fifth of my books are set in Iowa, where I grew up and now live with my family--a husband, two teenagers, and another neurotic dog, a Yorkie named Smokey.In between teaching and work as an editor and professional book reviewer, I've lived and sometimes taught in Mexico, England, Spain, and the Netherlands. I am always plotting the next trip.*****My novel When I Am Singing to You has won First Place, YA fiction ebook (English/Spanish) in the 2012 International Latino Book Awards! I am so honored.When I Am Singing to You is also named one of the "16 Essential Latino Children's Books by ¿Qué Más?, the blog for MamasLatinas, the leading bilingual online site for Hispanic moms. This site has 780,000 unique visitors a month*****Listen to my latest interview with Bill Thompson, host of The Bookcast: http://www.thebookcast.com/ya/its-not-snooping-read-this-14-year-olds-hilarious-diary/See my latest interview with Ben Wallace: http://benjaminwallacebooks.wordpress.com/See my interview at Kindle Author with David Wisehart:http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2011/06/kindle-author-interview-rebecca-burke.htmlWhen I Am Singing to You is featured at Kindle YA Authors. See excerpt plus my thoughts on writing Young Adult novels, especially one with a Latina teen. http://www.kindleyaauthors.com/2012/01/when-i-am-singing-to-you-by-rebecca.html

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    What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It’s All About? - Rebecca Burke

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