Perry's Killer Playlist

Perry’s Killer Playlist

By Joe Schreiber   Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  (2012)                   ISBN: 9780547601175

In Perry’s Killer Playlist, Perry, a recent high school graduate, has an opportunity to make his music dreams come true: He and his band, Inchworm, have a summer, European tour scheduled. Perry feels so bless, especially since he is falling in love with his beautiful, sophisticated band manager, Paula. Even though Paula is in Perry’s life, he still can’t seem to shake his feelings for Gobi, a spy posing as foreign exchange student that stayed with him last school year. Before Gobi left the United States, she and Perry agreed to rendezvous in Venice, which just so happened to be Inchworm’s second stop of the summer tour. Once in Venice, Perry finds himself caught in an international spy scheme that involves illegal arms trade and the CIA. Perry’s Killer Playlist is a velocity read that reminds a reader of a teenage James Bond adventure, with Gobi as 007.

Quantitative: Lexile Level—850L; ATOS—5.3.

Qualitative: Due to age relevance of the characters, this book is would interest upper grade students—those in high school. However Perry’s Killer Playlist does not pose much difficulty in the area of language. Some areas to consider regarding complexity are the European cultural references, especially in the Venice region. Students may also struggle deciphering Gobi’s dialogue. Because she is Lithuanian, Gobi’s English reflects the gaps in her language acquisition. Furthermore, Italian and Lithuanian terms are used throughout the story. Structurally, Perry’s Killer Playlist maintains a fairly linear plot line with only a few flashbacks used to connect contextualize Perry’s relationship with Gobi. Lastly, all of the novel’s chapter titles are the titles of songs, hence, the title of the book.  

Content Area: English; Government; Music.

Curriculum Suggestions: To me, Perry’s Killer Playlist is nothing more than a fun read. Yet, if teachers wanted to use this in their classrooms, I would recommend this book for an English class exploring intertextuality. Since the chapters are titled after songs, students could analyze both the songs’ lyrics and the chapters they correspond to. Students could examine not only the lyrics, but the structure of the song and the chapters. How does the novel’s form and structure compare to an album? Or playlist?

Common Core Standards: RI 9/10.3, 5. RL 9/10.7.

Additional/Digital Content:

• Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber (Book 1 of the Perry and Gobi series
•  Explore all the locations Gobi and Perry visit using Google Earth--http://www.google.com/earth
•  App—My Playlist Maker--https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.schima.apps.mpm2 

**Meets the “Reading for Pleasure HS/MS” requirement