Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph

by Ari Rosenschein

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Pub Date May 07 2024 | Archive Date Jun 04 2024

Fire & Ice YA

Entertainment & Pop Culture | Sports | Teens & YA

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Description

It’s the late ’90s—the final days before smartphones and the internet changed the teenage landscape forever. Zack and his mother have moved from Tempe to Berkeley for a fresh start, leaving behind Zack’s father after a painful divorce. A natural athlete, Zack makes the water polo team which equals social acceptance at his new school. Yet he’s more drawn to Matthias, a rebellious skater on the fringes, who introduces him to punk rock, record stores, and the legendary Telegraph Avenue.

As their friendship intensifies, Matthias’s behavior reminds Zack of his absent dad, driving a wedge between him and his mother. Complicating matters is Zaylee, a senior who boosts Zack’s confidence but makes him question his new buddy, Matthias. Faced with all these changes, Zack learns that when life gets messy, he might have to become his own best friend.

Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph is about how a friendship can challenge who we are, how we fit in, and where we’re going.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ari Rosenschein is a Seattle-based author who grew up in the Bay Area. Coasting, his debut short story collection, was praised by Newfound Journal as “introducing us to new West Coast archetypes who follow the tradition of California Dreaming into the 21st century.”

Ari holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch Los Angeles, and his work appears in Short Beasts, Drunk Monkeys, Noisey, Observer, PopMatters, The Big Takeover, KEXP, and elsewhere. He lives with his wife and dogs and enjoys the woods, rain, and coffee of his region.

Advance Praise

“Rife with all the crackle of skate culture—the lingo, the clothing, the music—Rosenschein’s YA debut is a kickflip, a deeply impactful exploration of the mercurial nature of male friendship, of family, mental affliction, and finally, transformation. Imagine a mash-up between A Separate Peace, Lords of Dogtown, and a John Hughes movie scored by Bad Religion and A Tribe Called Quest, and you’re halfway there.”

—TIM CUMMINGS, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF ALICE THE CAT

“Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph is a keenly and compassionately observed coming-of-age story that glows with truth and yearning. Reading this book feels the way falling in love and making a new best friend alight on the young and hungry heart.”

—JEFF ZENTNER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF IN THE WILD LIGHT

“Expertly crafted throughout, Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph captures the pure sunlight and uncertainty of California and coming of age, from the bright moments to the blind spots, from what is illuminated to what the radiance obscures.”

—STACY D. FLOOD, AUTHOR OF THE SALT FIELDS

“Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph is a musical journey through adolescence. I thoroughly enjoyed the late-'90s nostalgia. Rosenschein does a great job of portraying the impact of the people we surround ourselves with and how these relationships shape us, for better or worse.”

—AUTUMN LINDSEY, AUTHOR OF REMAINING AILEEN

“In Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph, Ari Rosenschein pulls us back to the East Bay Area college town’s pre-internet 1990s without succumbing to the trappings of nostalgia. Winding through a colorful backdrop of gritty subculture and analog academia, this charming book introduces complex personalities who traverse the tragedies and triumphs of adolescence.”

—ERIC SHEA, AUTHOR OF LIVING MOD: BERKELEY IN THE 1980S

“Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph immersed me in a world heady with the symphony of the teenage experience. The book is a sensitive look at the impacts of mental health and how music can help us connect and see the best in each other.”

—MIREYA SERRANO VELA, AUTHOR OF VESTIGES OF COURAGE

“Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph perfectly captures the tremulous passage of time, where teenagers often find themselves—that last spurt of internal growth before entering young adulthood. Ari Rosenschein has crafted a beautiful novel, especially for those young readers who are struggling to embrace the flux of change that, in the end, rewards us all.”

— PATRICK O’NEIL, AUTHOR OF ANARCHY AT THE CIRCLE K