Jake's second novel, due out on May 26th.

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Product Description

It’s High School Musical—rated R!

When the girl who’s foresworn men meets the boy who’s devoted himself to picking up women, there’s bound to be drama—perfect for a sixweek summer program devoted to the arts. Olivia’s summer goal: to write a musical that censures men with wandering eyes. Max’s summer goal: to hone his acting skills, along with his talent for attracting the ladies. Before camp is over, they’ll perform Olivia’s musical onstage and in real life—though the ending may turn out differently than either expects.

Jake Wizner’s story within a story takes the battle of the sexes to a whole new level in a bawdy, uproarious romp that’s laugh-out-loud fun.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #323769 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-26
• Released on: 2009-05-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00" h x 5.75" w x 8.60" l, .94 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780375852152
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Castration Celebration is a zany romantic romp through a summer theater program at Yale, and the follow-up to Jake Wizner's critically acclaimed debut Spanking Shakespeare. Max, an actor who likes women, has a crush on Olivia, a playwright who hates men. Olivia enjoys Max's attention, but she tells him in no uncertain terms that she came to camp to focus on her work. Olivia channels her romantic energy into writing "Castration Celebration," a musical with two teenagers, Amber and Dick, who fall in love after playing Benedick and Beatrice from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Much of the trouble in Olivia's musical is instigated by Dick's macho buddies, Biff and Sluggo, who get the best songs (such as "I Saw My Parents Having Sex" and "Horny"). Olivia has been obsessed with the seemingly inevitable infidelity of men ever since she walked in on her dad cheating with one of his grad students, and she works out her frustrations through her writing. But when Olivia tries to orchestrate a romantic situation in her own life as though it were a play, she learns the limits of her talents. Wizner cleverly embeds the scenes—and songs—of "Castration Celebration" (Olivia's musical) within the chapters, showing Olivia's development as a character as she's writing. Castration Celebration (the book) doesn't necessarily include any poignant epiphanies, and that's one of its strengths: for the most part, Wizner allows it to be a comedy and remain a comedy. It is a funny, realistic portrait of early adulthood relationships, one that doesn't steer away from topics that teens deal with every day—gender power struggles, sexual tension, and alcohol and drug use. Best for older teens who can relate to adult themes. (Ages 14 and up) -–Heidi Broadhead

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Jake Wizner on Castration Celebration

I wanted to write a musical, which is a little bit odd because I have only seen two or three musicals in my life and did not particularly enjoy them. But I’ve always loved writing irreverent songs, and I figured that I could write the kind of musical that people who don’t like musicals could also enjoy. I started with the lyrics, and then I built a script around the songs, and what emerged was something outrageous, over-the-top, and really, really funny, at least to me.

I had also been playing around for a long time with the idea of setting a young adult novel on a college campus, because I had spent the first ten years of my life living in a dormitory at Yale. I remembered clearly what kinds of adventures a young boy could have, and I imagined it could be even more fun for kids a little bit older. So that’s kind of how the book came together. Take a group of teenagers, plop them down on a college campus for a summer program where they can be working on a musical, and see what happens.

There’s a scene early in the book where Olivia’s playwriting teacher challenges her students to write not what they know, but what they want to find out. That’s sort of what writing this book was like for me. Whereas Spanking Shakespeare was rooted largely in my own experiences as a teenager, Castration Celebration was really a work of pure fiction. Now I’m at work on a third novel for young adults, a humorous coming of age story of a neurotic, love-starved high school senior who finds himself becoming entangled in the life of a young boy and the immigration politics of post 9-11 America. —Jake Wizner

From Booklist
Less creative and more crude than Wizner’s Spanking Shakespeare (2007), this envelope-pusher follows a raunchy group of teens through a summer at a Yale arts camp. Disappointed by the males in her life and fascinated by the concept of castration, Olivia creates the book’s titular musical as her project, drawing inspiration from her fellow campers’ over-the-top discussions and exploits. Most chapters end with a scene from Olivia’s work-in-progress, including the often quite clever (and graphic) lyrics to songs, such as “Horny” and “I’m in Love with Dick.” References to sex in all its forms and the lack of restraint on foul language will certainly shock some readers (particularly adults). Wizner skewers everything from classic children’s books (Pat the Bunny is reinterpreted from a very Freudian perspective) to High School Musical (clearly satirized on the book’s cover), and many older teens will appreciate the wild humor and the no-holds-barred look at what undoubtedly does happen at some summer camps. Grades 11-12. --Andrew Medlar

About the Author
Jake Wizner is the author of Spanking Shakespeare, an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. Jake grew up in a dormitory at Yale, and some of his fondest childhood memories are set on the Old Campus, where Castration Celebration is based. These days he lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters and spends his time writing, teaching, and going to the playground. Learn more about Jake by visiting his Web site at www.jakewizner.com.

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Customer Reviews

Average
I am not quite certain what to make of this book.

First off, the title is a little misleading or maybe its perfect for this story, it depends on how you view this storyline. The storyline is triggered by Olivia who walks in on some very "undad" like behavior on the part of her dad - this sends Olivia into a tizz - which inspires her to write a play while she is in the arts program for the summer. She enlists the help of her somewhat dysfunctional and odd friends and as time and events develop between these teens, a musical is born.

This book is written for YA and is meant to be funny in a raunchy kind of way. I have no problem with this, but I just could not connect with any of the characters - they all felt somewhat self-serving to me and using the summer as a excuse to basically get raunchy.

I just could not get into this one at all, although it seems to have been highly appreciated by many other readers.

WOW!
Wizner, Jake. "Castration Celebration", Random House Books for Young Readers, 2009.

Wow!

Amos Lassen

I must admit that the title of this book turned my head and it is quite a raunchy read. "Castration Celebration" is a romp through Yale's summer theater program. Our hero, Max, is an actor who loves women. He has a crush on a woman, Olivia, who hates men but she does enjoy Max's attention. She lets Max know that the reason she is at the Yale summer camp program is so that she can focus on her work--playwriting. She is working on a musical, "Castration Celebration" about Amber and Dick, two teens who fall in love after playing in "Much Ado About Nothing" together. The problem she is having is with the character of Dick and his pals Biff and Sluggo. Olivia's mind is centered on man's infidelity and this began when she caught her dad cheating on her mom with one of his grad students. Olivia uses her writing to release her frustrations but to use her ideas for realistic situations constitute failures.
The teens in this novel are horny and raunchy. Olivia is really into the concept of castration. This is the story of a girl who has sworn off men and a guy who has devoted his life to pick up women and this is what causes all of the drama here. It is the battle of the sexes that is sexy, bawdy, ballsy and quite funny. It is a simple plotline--boy meets girl and they have a happy ending. As simple as the concept is, the execution is quite complicated and a great deal of fun.
The characters are quite stereotypical and quite believable and the book is a fun read. (There is no castration in the novel).

Dirty but funny
Olivia is seriously pissed at guys, and with good reason. She recently walked in on her dad fooling around with one of his grad students, but at least now she has a great topic for the musical she's writing at summer arts camp at Yale, a musical she's titled Castration Celebration. But Olivia's not prepared for when scenes from her play start to star her and a certain cute but cocky actor Max in real life. Even if Olivia is the least bit interested, she's not willing to trust Max since the only thing you can trust about a guy is that he'll be a guy--always looking for sex. While Olivia's not too sure of her feelings for Max, she does know she has to hang out with him once in a while for the raw material he provides for her musical; besides, he's just interesting. As the days heat up, so does this battle of the sexes. It's going to be one unforgettable summer for these teens.

Castration Celebration is a laugh-out-loud hilarious story somewhat reminiscent of Disney's High School Musical. The major difference between the two is that Castration Celebration is aimed at an older, more mature audience. The best thing about this novel is its somewhat raunchy and dirty humor; it's almost scary how the characters can find a sexual connotation in nearly everything. The plot of the novel is a seriously twisted romance made more interesting by being interspaced with scenes from Olivia's comedy and her original and very funny songs. The characters, I felt, could definitely have been working on. This novel is told from the third person perspective and offers insufficient insight into each character's mind. This made even the main characters less believable at times. I know Castration Celebration is mostly Olivia and Max's take, but I would've appreciated more from minor characters Zeke, Trish, Callie, and Mimi. Despite that, Castration Celebration is a sweet and seriously humorous tale that covers nearly everything in guy-girl interaction from the mysteries of the opposite gender's mind to good old-fashioned guy-gets-girl (or girl-gets-guy) romance.

Castration Celebration will be enjoyed not only by the drama crows but by anyone who's experienced confusion and/or frustration over the opposite sex. This novel will also be liked by fans of Love on Cue by Catherine Hapka.