''Andromeda Klein'' is

Frank Portman Frank Portman (born September 21, 1964), better known by the pseudonym Dr. Frank, is an American musician, singer, guitarist, and author. He is the singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the Berkeley, California punk rock band The Mr. T Ex ...

's second

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

published in 2009. The story focuses on

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

, Andromeda, who simultaneously tries to save her beloved local library from modernization and solve the various mysteries surrounding: her missing much-older boyfriend; the strange signs seemingly being sent to her from her recently deceased best friend Daisy; and her ever more prophetic

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

readings.

Plot summary

Andromeda Klein is a teenage girl with many problems. She is unattractive,

hard of hearing Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

, her best friend and former magical partner Daisy recently died of cancer, "St. Steve" her boyfriend has gone missing, her mother is completely overbearing and her father is a paranoid conspiracist. She makes sense of the world through her complete immersion in the world of

ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an ex ...

and

, even taking on a job at her local library, which conveniently houses an impressive collection of esoteric books on just such subjects. When a list comes in, threatening to wipe the entire collection, Andromeda immediately enlists the help of all those she can find, and begins her battle with the "Friends of the Library". Meanwhile, Andromeda begins to receive myriad messages from Daisy, beyond the grave and plies Daisy's younger brother with naked girl magazines (or "bagel worm agonies" as she mishears thanks to her partial deafness) in exchange for the remaining scraps of her dead best friend's belongings. She then uses these as part of her

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

in an attempt to figure out just what Daisy is trying to tell her. Rosalie van Genuchten, and the rest of Andromeda's "afternoon tea" (alcohol and drugs) party friends, sick of her pining for St. Steve, attempt to set her up with various potential suitors who Andromeda dismisses on sight. However, in this process, she picks up Byron, a short guy with unfortunate facial hair who nevertheless becomes a kind of apprentice to Andromeda's

occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

, and confidant as new, exciting, but generally confusing text messages suddenly start coming in from St. Steve. The story gathers pace as Andromeda's tarot readings become increasingly literal and prophetic, sparking interest from fellow students, eager to know their futures, and more pressingly, who their boyfriends are cheating on them with. Andromeda's dreams start to feature a powerful new figure, called "The King of Sacramento", she begins to hear a voice in her head (that calls itself Huggy) and in a crescendo of increasingly elaborate and freaky spells, the mysteries of St. Steve, her tarot readings, and Daisy all become clear.

Songs

Portman recorded two songs "Andromeda Klein" and "Bethlehem" to promote the book which were later released as a digital download and

7 inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

single through Jealous Butcher Records.

Controversy

Portman has reported that a planned promotional visit to a school in a

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

area was cancelled due to "parental worries about the occult elements" in ''Andromeda Klein''. Portman has since performed at an event related to

Banned Books Week Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individua ...

at the San Francisco Public Library.

References

{{Reflist 2009 American novels American young adult novels Books by Frank Portman Fiction about tarot Novels about disability Novels about witches and witchcraft Novels set in the San Francisco Bay Area Paranormal novels