For What It's Worth by Janet Tashjian

This book was recommended by our school librarian, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. The setting is in Los Angles, in 1971, and Quinn is an obsessed, fourteen-year-old expert on rock music. He meets Caroline on the first day of school, and she becomes his first girlfriend. He sometimes wishes there was a handbook on how to talk to girls, but he consults with his Ouija board instead. He discovers that the Ouija board is connecting him with the spirits of Club 27, famous rock stars who died at the age of 27. He frequently calls on the board for advice. Quinn loves to spend his time buying new albums, playing his guitar, and starting a rock band. Then, Caroline's brother is drafted into the Vietnam War, and Quinn meets one of his sister's friends, a draft dodger trying to flee to Canada. Quinn realizes there are more important things in life than rock music.

If you don't like classic rock music, then you won't like this book. I do. Almost every page has references to rock musicians and their songs. The template for the plot is not unique; a teenage boy finds his first love, and some important event threatens their relationship. However, most of Quinn's problems are created by himself, although the Vietnam War becomes a major issue in their lives. In the end, he makes some life-changing decisions to resolve his problems. It was fun to see Frank Zappa and Mama Cass Elliot included as actual characters.