13 August 2002 DUNK by David Lubar, Clarion, September 2002

" 'It's got to be the worst job in the world.'

" 'Uh-uh,' Corey said. 'There are lots worse. I had an uncle who was a tester for insect repellent. They'd spray his arms with different formulas and then he'd stick them in a tank full of mosquitoes.'

" 'That's nothing,' Jason said. 'Back in New York, a couple of the older kids I knew made money selling their blood. You're only supposed to sell some every two weeks, and you're not supposed to sell it at all if you're underage, but they'd go to a bunch of different places.'

" 'Yuck,' Mike said. 'But that's not a job, is it? I mean, you don't do it all day long.'

" 'Maybe, but it's still pretty rough by the third or fourth pint,' Jason said.

" 'How about fixing clogged toilets?' Corey asked. 'That can't be fun.'

" 'That's not so bad,' Mike told him. 'It's not like you do it with your bare hands. My neighbor's a plumber. He makes good money. Now, sitting in an office somewhere, the same place all day every day--that's got to suck.'

" 'Depends what you do,' Corey said. 'I can spend the whole day on my computer. No problem.'

" 'Basically, working sucks,' Mike said. 'That's why I'm joining the army. You know exactly what's going to happen, and they won't fire you if business gets slow. No matter what, you get your check and you get your meals.' He plopped back on his towel...

" 'Agreed, Corey said. 'Working sucks.'

"I hoped they were wrong. Two more years of school, and then I'd be doing some sort of work. Maybe I'd really get to own an arcade. Or maybe I'd be the guy sticking his arm in a cloud of mosquitoes. I didn't have a clue where I'd end up. It didn't seem like I had any control over that right now. Or maybe ever. And even after all these years of school, I hadn't found anything I thought I'd be good at. Until now."

There are a number of important themes in DUNK by David Lubar, but I was affected foremost by that of characters finding their places in the working world.

I remember being a young child and my father coming in the back door at daybreak, in the midst of a blizzard, after working a double shift in order to take advantage of lucrative overtime pay. He was an oil burner serviceman in those days--his late twenties--before Mom persuaded him to start his own plumbing and contracting businesses. Helping on the construction jobs as a kid, I was a front-row spectator to my parents working long hours together in those years of booming growth on Long Island. I also watched my little brother--the hustler--who was flinging Newsdays at ten and repairing cars before he could legally drive them.

We all grow up with a variety of adults and young adults modeling what it is to go to work. In addition to my parents, I'd listen to the stories from my grandfather such as how, before becoming a buyer for Abraham & Straus, he'd shoveled coal on the railroad during the Great Depression, and to other relatives, and I'd hear about the working lives of neighbors and friends' parents--some of whom commuted for hours each day to jobs in New York City.

Then there were all the grownups I came to know because I would always see them at their work. I think back to the butcher who'd reach over the counter and hand me a slice of bologna when I toddled behind Mom into the old shop with the sawdust on the floor. There were my pediatricians and the ancient dentist, the teachers and librarians, the priests at church, the milkman, the guy who drove the ice-cream truck, the waiters who knew my grandparents by name, and the big kids who worked at the movies, the supermarket, and the burger places. (In fact, I just reconnected with a close high school friend who used to work at I-HOP in Commack. A few of us would walk in there late Saturday night, and Mike'd fill us a paper garbage sack full of hot fries to go.) How did all of these working people influence my own pathways and attitudes concerning work?

We see ourselves as having more choices and opportunities in our lifetimes than in previous eras when it comes to picking a career--especially more so for those not born as white males. I remind my kids and students frequently that diligence at school leads to having a greater number of those choices available to them when they arrive at that time where they'll spend a large chunk of their waking hours at work. But we also watch so many adults around us--even highly educated ones--struggle to find work that they are good at, that fulfills them, and that pays enough to allow them to do it.

" 'You'll be working your whole life once you get out of school,' Mom said. 'I want you to enjoy yourself while you can. Maybe next summer you can get a job.'

" 'But--'

"Mom took a step closer. 'Look at me, Chad. I'm thirty-two, and I could pass for forty. That's what hard work will do to you."

DUNK takes place over a summer at a resort town on the Jersey shore. At the start of the summer a local kid, Chad, becomes instantly fascinated by a Bozo in a dunk tank. The Bozo's job is to sufficiently offend the "marks" passing by along the boardwalk, so that they'll pay two bucks to take three shots at hitting the target and dunking him. Nearly all of Chad's friends work summers or after school, and work is a big issue between him and his mom, as well as the reason for Chad's attitude about his long-absent dad. In fact, Chad has a wealth of attitude, banging heads with the local police, a friend's parents, and the Bozo in the tank.

That Bozo in the dunk tank is also at the center of the book's exploration of humor: humor as the best medicine and good humor versus bad humor. This is an interesting perspective that the author explores, in light of all of the tolerance and name-calling issues we are dealing with today.

Readers are also exposed to those classic big-screen masters of the one-liner to whom I was turned onto by a member of our high school crowd.

DUNK is a deeply personal narrative. I found myself rooting for Chad, who we know is far from being a model citizen, but who transforms and gains insight through the events of that summer.

David Lubar has done a great job here. DUNK will cause young adults to pause and think for a moment as the seat tips over and they plunge toward their own world of work in the twenty-first century.

Richie Partington

http://richiespicks.com

BudNotBuddy@aol.com