Notes from the Midnight Driver

Plot summary

Alex Gregory is a 16-year-old boy. One night while his mom was on a date because his dad ran off with his third-grade teacher, he decided to get wasted and he took his mom's car to pay his father a visit. The next thing he knows is that he hit a lawn gnome and puked on a police officer. To pay back the $375, plus an extra $125 for his mom's car, Alex has to do 100 hours of community service at a nursing home. He is assigned to an elderly man who has the ability to make a volunteer worker run home in tears. Alex is frustrated by Sol, but the judge will not change his assignment.

Alex's best friend Laurie is a beautiful martial arts master. After meeting her, Sol constantly teases Alex by calling Laurie his wife several times throughout the book. Sol's comments about Laurie makes Alex realize his feelings for her. Alex gets made fun of in Yiddish and has trouble in his life.

One day, Alex practiced his guitar while waiting for Sol. It turned out Sol used to be a Jazz guitar player. They start to bond; everything is going great between them. Sol even teaches him some valuable lessons, for he was once a successful guitar player. Alex even has benefit concerts with Steven and Annette (from Sonnenblick's first book Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie) to give the residents something to look forward to in their boring lives. The book is rated a good read and some say it should even be a New York Times Best Seller.