Beat the Band — Don Calame

Get ready for riffs on hot girls, Health class, and social hell The outrageously funny boys from Swim the Fly return to rock their sophomore year.

In this hilarious sequel told from Coop's point of view, it's the beginning of the school year, and the tenth-grade Health class must work in twos on semester-long projects. Matt and Sean get paired up (the jerks), but Coop is matched with the infamous "Hot Dog" Helen for a presentation on safe sex. Everybody's laughing, except for Coop, who's convinced that the only way to escape this popularity death sentence is to win "The Battle of the Bands" with their group, Arnold Murphy's Bologna Dare. There's just one problem: none of the guys actually plays an instrument. Will Coop regain his "cool" before it's too late? Or will the forced one-on-one time with Helen teach him a lesson about social status he never saw coming? With ribald humor and a few sweet notes, screenwriter-turned-novelist Don Calame once again hits all the right chords.