For What It's Worth by Janet Tashjian

Quinn lives in Los Angeles in 1971. For him, there is not better time and place to live because he loves music. He can tell you the most obscure facts about the big performers of the day: the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell - just to name a few. His mom even hangs with Mama Cass of the Mamas & the Papas.

Music pretty much dominates Quinn's world. He collects albums; he transcribes music, he plays guitar and writes a column for the school paper. And then on the first day of school he meets Caroline.

The problem is that Quinn has never had a girlfriend before and is very insecure about himself and the relationship. He often checks his Ouija board for answers (hiding it from his mother who does not approve). Is the the Ouija board real? For Quinn it is and he believes for a while that he is contacting Club 27 - famous rock performers who all died at that age: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. Even though Caroline helps him make money from his connection to Club 27, Quinn still feels like his first real relationship is doomed.

This story is a nice trip into the past particularly if you like the music from this era. At times, I found the many references to the time period distracting, but overall I liked the story and its setting.

For more information, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog or the author's site.