A review by emdoux
Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! by M.E. Kerr

4.0

Tucker Woolf, "a male cat-lover who was also a lover of libraries," meets the title character after he is forced to adopt out his cat, Nader, because of his father's newly developed allergies. Dinky is a formidable new owner for Nader, her physical size certainly as intimidating as her raw wit, unflinching honesty (about anything other than herself), and fascination with the odd. When Dinky's cousin Natalia comes to stay with the Hocker family, Tucker finds himself using Nader as an excuse to visit the mysterious, beautiful girl. Of course, Dinky and Tucker's parents have a field day with Tucker's infatuation, something he has not yet verbalized to anyone, let alone Natalia or himself - and when Natalia agrees to go to a dance with him only if Dinky also has a date. So Tucker introduces her to P. John Knight, a wildly opinionated, right wing guy he doesn't really like - but P. John is fat, so Tucker figures the pairing will work out. Luckily for him, it does, but the dance does not go well for he and Natalia; afterward, Tucker's friendships begin to unravel.

This novel presents ordinary people and their ordinary issues in a heavily extraordinary way, detailing their intricacies and inadequacies with effortless diction. Originally published in 1972, the novel may still hold its own with teens who find it today.

Other notes (for class):
- overt foreshadowing of Dinky's psychological issues require inference, yet are still blatant
- Natalia's previous mental illness perhaps one of the first appearances in YA? - check
- constantly places religious characters (Mr. and Mrs. Hocker) in negative light