There’s not much to do in Nebraska in the early 1980s. Most kids are able to find some sort of fun partying or skipping school but with the pressure from his Israeli immigrants, teen Ron Bahar is working hard his senior year to get into medical school.

That said, Ron still has a few joys in his life. He’s been in love with his girlfriend, Amy, since seventh grade but they’re running into problems with how they want to structure their relationships --- not to mention the fact that Ron’s parents doesn’t approve of him dating. Ron is also an amazing singer and occasionally covers songs with his friend’s band, but Ron’s parents see no future in a singing career and guide him strictly to stay on the path of medical school. Like many teens, Ron has a lot of decisions to make and not a lot of time to make them.

"This book does do a very good job at capturing what it was like to be a teenager in the early 1980s....I found several of the issues Ron was going through to be relatable."

THE FRONTMAN is a sort-of autobiography of the life of Ron Bahar. While it is stated that the stories are fictionalized, this book reads much more like a “nonfiction novel.” If you’ve ever read a fiction and a nonfiction book side-by-side, you know there’s a big difference and this book really turned out to have a storyline I wasn’t expecting.

The main thing that I had a hard time with in this book was the writing. The writing read like a very dry, straight to the point autobiography. I found myself taking longer than usual to get through the pages and had to force myself to get past the first 60 or so pages for me to enjoy the book. However, this book does do a very good job at capturing what it was like to be a teenager in the early 1980s. There are lots of song and pop culture references that are explained thoroughly so that anyone could understand the references.

In a way, this book reminded me of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. Because they are both more diary-like structured books, neither of them have a straightforward plot. Instead, the book focused on everyday battles and victories. This book follows Ron not only through his last year of high school but also his first year of college. As someone who recently made that switch, I found several of the issues Ron was going through to be relatable.

Overall, THE FRONTMAN was neither a hit nor miss for me. Like I said, the first 60 pages were hard for me to get past, but after that I found myself enjoying this book.