The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer

They have to take a stand. This co-opting of their school by the reality show "For Art's Sake" has gotten way out of hand. At least, that's what Luke thinks. He's kind of the leader of their motley foursome. He always has been, almost since forever. So even though Ethan's desperate crush of 100 years Maura Heldsman is a contestant on the show, he gets behind Luke's cause.

What you have to know first is that Selwyn is an arts academy. It isn't your run-of-the-mill public high school. Every morning they each spend an hour and a half practicing whatever discipline they want to perfect. Jackson is a nerdy cyber super genius, Elizabeth is an art goddess in day glow, Ethan is a less than stellar artist and an okay musician, and Luke is a wordsmith (and of course, their mascot, Baconnaise the gerbil). Maura is a dancer, Miki Frigging Reagler is a drama kid, and so on. That's the best part of Selwyn: the diversity and the art.

When the vice principal and the plastic blonde co-host, Trisha, came swooping in with the reality TV show, at first it seemed like it could be a decent idea: good press for the school, a scholarship for the winner, and fame never hurts either! The longer the season goes on, however, the more obvious it seems that everything is scripted and edited using "frankenbiting" tactics (selective splicing of footage to create a desired storyline that may not fit with reality).

They learn about the Cantos in BradLee's English class, how Ezra Pound used it as a way to fight back against tyranny and speak out against oppression, and to challenge the established language. BradLee gets what they are fighting against. It's this that inspires Luke to create the Contracantos. What is the Contracantos? A subversive newsletter aimed at the money making machine of For Art's Sake and all those involved, calling for a return to the true purpose of the school: creating art. How is that going to go over with Vice Principal (Serpent Vice) Coluber, Trisha, and their cronies?

"Selwyn? Sell-outs! That's who we are.
We're orbiting an ersatz star.
We used to spend our time creating
But now we walk the halls awaiting
The latest, greatest Nielsen rating.
-THE CONTRACANTOS," (Hattemer pg. 76, 2014).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:

The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

Hattemer, Kate. (2014). The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.