If Rock and Roll Were a Machine

New York Times bestselling author Terry Davis offers the critically acclaimed “powerful story about a teenager’s search for self-esteem” (Booklist, starred review).

When an elementary school teacher’s criticisms turn Bert Bowden from a bright, popular boy into a self-conscious, awkward one, everyone is shocked. Bert is determined to regain his old confidence and become somebody great, but will he be able to overcome the silence of adolescent solitude?

This inspiring coming-of-age story, which takes place twenty years after Vision Quest, reminds us that the growing pains of adolescence are the price we pay must for finding happiness as we grow older.

Terry Davis is an American novelist who lives near Spokane, Washington, and is a professor emeritus of English at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU Mankato), where he taught creative writing—fiction and screenwriting—as well as adolescent literature. Davis, who has been a high school English teacher and a wrestling coach, is the author of three novels for young adults: Vision Quest, Mysterious Ways, and If Rock and Roll Were a Machine. He has also written Presenting Chris Crutcher, a biography of the respected young-adult author.