This second Ishmael story revolves around the potential of poetry (including song lyrics) to capture and express emotions. For the teenagers Ishmael and his friend Razza, poetry is also a promising new way to approach girls. For Ishmael, who always fears to come across the wrong way and tends to find himself in embarrassing situations, words don't come easy, particularly not for wonderful Kelly. Plus, Ishmael thinks that he can't rival with Kelly's cool and sporty friend Brad. For Razza this is all different. He is relaxed and outspoken, convinced that he really knows what "chicks" like. In his persistent attempts to help Ishmael, Razza becomes the central figure of the story. Razza is also an important link to two other side stories of this book, those concerning the debating club (which connects to three other nerdy or unpopular school friends) and the revival of the Dugongs, the former university band of Ishmael's dad. In the end, these side stories converge nicely: one of the debating club nerds jumps in to help out Razza, and Razza jumps in to help out the Dugongs. Indeed, poetry works well for everybody in the end.
I found the story very funny and entertaining. Still, I liked the first book of the series better, perhaps because it is more introspective, more focused on Ishmael and less obsessed with teenage liaisions. For a non-native speaker like me, it is a great book to get or stay in touch with colloquial teenage language, perhaps with an Aussie bias. A fun read. ( )