Save Me, Kurt Cobain

Reviewed by: Kara Reiman - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 27, 2016

Review

"Save Me, Kurt Cobain" by Jenny Manzer follows Nicola (but she goes by Nico ever since her mother left), a teenager who loves Nirvana's music and is mildly obsessed with her mother's disappearance when she was four. Her mother, Annalee, disappeared mysteriously after telling Nicola she'd be back very soon. Police searched for her, but nobody found any sign of her, so Nico obsesses over what could have made her mother leave: “Did she hate me? Did she hate my father? Is she dead? Is she kidnapped? Is she still alive?” After discovering evidence that her mother loosely knew Kurt Cobain (an unsent letter from Annalee to Kurt and a few pictures of Kurt reaching out to Annalee at a concert), Nico latches onto the idea that Kurt Cobain is her real father. After visiting her aunt in Seattle, she sees a guy on a ferry that looks like Kurt Cobain and she follows him back to his cabin to see if he knows anything about her mother, while the rest of Canada puts out an AMBER alert for her. The book is interesting enough to keep you reading, and if you like Nirvana, you'll probably enjoy the references to Kurt and his music (several songs are referenced repeatedly), or maybe you'll be upset by an author supposing that Kurt Cobain might have faked his death. Nico acts like a believable teenager, but gets many lucky breaks that further the story and are a bit unrealistic. Overall an enjoyable book, but not a must-buy. Reviewed by Kate Radke

Overall Book Score: good