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Meet Me at Jimmy's Arcade: Nostalgia and Musings From an 80's Kid Who Accidentally Solved a Murder
Bakersfield, California, 1990.
Local high school student Bebe-Lynn Sanders is missing. Each day that passes causes more and more worry for the entire town. She was seen cutting through Quailwood Park on her way to rent a movie the morning she vanished. Her last appearance was later that night outside the popular hangout, Jimmy's Arcade. No one knows where she went. No one knows what happened.
Join mildly-idiotic kids Grant Fieldgrove and Roxy Roxburgh as they stumble, scheme, and steamroll their way through Bakersfield in the late 80s and early 90s, desperately on the hunt for a Nintendo, fake earrings from Miller's Outpost, tickets to see Vanilla Ice at the Civic Auditorium, and the ever-elusive holy grail - a porno mag! And, of course, Bebe-Lynn.
Meet Me at Jimmy's Arcade is a hilarious and heartbreaking romp through a small California town way back when, filled with nostalgic stories, humor, mystery, arcades, and malls. You won't want to miss it! So sit back, grab a Jolt Cola and a three-foot-long licorice rope, and enjoy the ride.
Bebe Forever & Long Live the Arcade!
Local high school student Bebe-Lynn Sanders is missing. Each day that passes causes more and more worry for the entire town. She was seen cutting through Quailwood Park on her way to rent a movie the morning she vanished. Her last appearance was later that night outside the popular hangout, Jimmy's Arcade. No one knows where she went. No one knows what happened.
Join mildly-idiotic kids Grant Fieldgrove and Roxy Roxburgh as they stumble, scheme, and steamroll their way through Bakersfield in the late 80s and early 90s, desperately on the hunt for a Nintendo, fake earrings from Miller's Outpost, tickets to see Vanilla Ice at the Civic Auditorium, and the ever-elusive holy grail - a porno mag! And, of course, Bebe-Lynn.
Meet Me at Jimmy's Arcade is a hilarious and heartbreaking romp through a small California town way back when, filled with nostalgic stories, humor, mystery, arcades, and malls. You won't want to miss it! So sit back, grab a Jolt Cola and a three-foot-long licorice rope, and enjoy the ride.
Bebe Forever & Long Live the Arcade!
- GenresComing Of Age
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 19, 2023
32 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Grant Fieldgrove
23 books24 followersHi. I'm Grant. I write comedy and murder. And comedy murders.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 3, 2023
Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰
This was a free novel e-book from Amazon.
A girl 👧 goes missing and is found dead later. Grant is instrumental in the solving of the murder leading to the arrest of the killer.
I would recommend this novel and author to 👍 readers of true crime novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒😡😮🏡
I have listened 🎶 to a number of kindle e-books by this author and have been found each very enjoyable.
This was a free novel e-book from Amazon.
A girl 👧 goes missing and is found dead later. Grant is instrumental in the solving of the murder leading to the arrest of the killer.
I would recommend this novel and author to 👍 readers of true crime novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒😡😮🏡
I have listened 🎶 to a number of kindle e-books by this author and have been found each very enjoyable.
October 5, 2024
A very sad but true story.
I found the parts explaining about VCRs and baseball very good, the enthusiasm with which Grant wrote about them shows that he really is passionate about them.
I obviously wasn't around in the 80s, so I didn't get most of the old school pop culture references...
I would give this five stars if most of the book wasn't dedicated to Grant and his friend wanting to read "a porno mag".
I found the parts explaining about VCRs and baseball very good, the enthusiasm with which Grant wrote about them shows that he really is passionate about them.
I obviously wasn't around in the 80s, so I didn't get most of the old school pop culture references...
I would give this five stars if most of the book wasn't dedicated to Grant and his friend wanting to read "a porno mag".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2024
Pick up for the crime, stay for the heartfelt nostalgia
There’s something really special about this book. It defies expectations at every turn and somehow comes off as a deeply heartfelt tribute to not only the childhoods of the 1980s, but also to the victim of a terrible crime. Grant Fieldgrove definitely has a way of utilizing his voice to tell this story — you can feel the passionate pop-culture aficionado permeating the pages here. I found myself transported to this neighborhood, remembering the “good old days” of my own childhood and missing it, while also mourning how adulthood takes so much of our exuberance and innocence away. Fieldgrove allows the mystery to unfold almost in the background, much like the way anyone would experience a newsworthy story would affect us, but here… the crime and hysteria is happening just beyond his front door. I found myself glued to this book, wanting to spend as much time with Grant and his friends as possible while also figuring out what happened to Bebe-Lynn, but also not wanting this book to end. A very enjoyable book!
There’s something really special about this book. It defies expectations at every turn and somehow comes off as a deeply heartfelt tribute to not only the childhoods of the 1980s, but also to the victim of a terrible crime. Grant Fieldgrove definitely has a way of utilizing his voice to tell this story — you can feel the passionate pop-culture aficionado permeating the pages here. I found myself transported to this neighborhood, remembering the “good old days” of my own childhood and missing it, while also mourning how adulthood takes so much of our exuberance and innocence away. Fieldgrove allows the mystery to unfold almost in the background, much like the way anyone would experience a newsworthy story would affect us, but here… the crime and hysteria is happening just beyond his front door. I found myself glued to this book, wanting to spend as much time with Grant and his friends as possible while also figuring out what happened to Bebe-Lynn, but also not wanting this book to end. A very enjoyable book!
July 1, 2023
It pulls you in and brings you back to a decade long gone.
Though I normally don't read non fiction I enjoyed this one. My mom and dad were teens in the 80s so going back to that time was cool, and showed the world in another time. The topic though sad was interesting to read and the ending was a shock. This book has alot of humorous moments in it. Overall a great read .
Though I normally don't read non fiction I enjoyed this one. My mom and dad were teens in the 80s so going back to that time was cool, and showed the world in another time. The topic though sad was interesting to read and the ending was a shock. This book has alot of humorous moments in it. Overall a great read .
November 10, 2023
This one took me back to the incomparable, youthful fun of the 80s. It was a fun read.
July 2, 2023
I had a lot of fun with this one! This may sound callous, being that the plot centers on that of a real-life murder, but the pure nostalgia in these pages was straight up joyful at times. The story made me think of Stand By Me if it were set in the late 80s/ early 90s. As a 90s kid, I feel like I knew the main characters and their parents, too! As a kid, I basically lived at the video store, then as a teen, I worked and met my husband there too! So much of the author's writing brought me right back to that time. The true crime aspect of the story keeps the reader guessing, and the wrap-up delivers. I recommend it, especially if you love to reminisce about drive-ins, video stores, arcades, The Beastie Boys, and youthful summer days. ☀️
March 7, 2024
Sad true story but all the references to the 80s were awesome!
June 29, 2024
fun read
I really enjoyed how Grant set this story up, with all the details and the nostalgia (for even me being two at the time). This was a great read!
I really enjoyed how Grant set this story up, with all the details and the nostalgia (for even me being two at the time). This was a great read!
November 13, 2024
Note : I had originally given this three stars, and have since upgraded it. The original review follows with my reasoning for the upgraded review in the final paragraph.
Unfortunate description and title sets up unmet expectations.
It's a shame, really. Clearly this is a passion project, and I don't really want to dump on it. However, it's marketed as a murder mystery, and that's not what it is. With that expectation, the mystery itself is only briefly mentioned a few times throughout the book and the resolution is unsatisfying.
What this is, is a nostalgic, coming of age story during the 1980s. There is a certain charm about it, but I'm not sure who it's for. Yes, we all spoke with the filthiest, most creative curse words we could come up with but, as an adult who was just finishing high school during that time, I don't need or want every single one of those to be spelled out anymore. And yet, kids wouldn't find this interesting, because they wouldn't get the cultural references of the time.
I would recommend that, if you are a fan of Stranger Things, thiis might be interesting to you. just understand that it's about the journey, and not the actual barely-there story. Take it as a week or so in the lives of some boys coming into puberty during the 1980s, and enjoy it for what it is.
Had I had the proper expectations going into it, this would be four stars. I do appreciate the effort the author put into it and, slight audio quality issues aside, it's very well written. Update: After reflecting on this for a couple of days, I've adjusted my rating. False expectations aside, Fieldgrove did accurately capture the time and language that I remember from my childhood.
Unfortunate description and title sets up unmet expectations.
It's a shame, really. Clearly this is a passion project, and I don't really want to dump on it. However, it's marketed as a murder mystery, and that's not what it is. With that expectation, the mystery itself is only briefly mentioned a few times throughout the book and the resolution is unsatisfying.
What this is, is a nostalgic, coming of age story during the 1980s. There is a certain charm about it, but I'm not sure who it's for. Yes, we all spoke with the filthiest, most creative curse words we could come up with but, as an adult who was just finishing high school during that time, I don't need or want every single one of those to be spelled out anymore. And yet, kids wouldn't find this interesting, because they wouldn't get the cultural references of the time.
I would recommend that, if you are a fan of Stranger Things, thiis might be interesting to you. just understand that it's about the journey, and not the actual barely-there story. Take it as a week or so in the lives of some boys coming into puberty during the 1980s, and enjoy it for what it is.
Had I had the proper expectations going into it, this would be four stars. I do appreciate the effort the author put into it and, slight audio quality issues aside, it's very well written. Update: After reflecting on this for a couple of days, I've adjusted my rating. False expectations aside, Fieldgrove did accurately capture the time and language that I remember from my childhood.
July 15, 2024
There was a lot of history in this book. Some facts were relevant to me, and some were not, since I am not a sports fan. The story was tragic but true to life and filtered with humor. It elicited a lot of sympathy from me for the murdered girl. This goes to show how rumors and falsehoods can become deadly.
December 30, 2023
What a fake story. The bits of nostalgia mentions of items/trends in the 90s were cool.
August 4, 2025
This is by far one of the coziest books I ever read. The nostalgia factor is huge here. The way things are described in this book bring the senses of the 80's alive. It truly felt like I was transported to the inner mind of a writer (with ADHD and chronic nostalgia) looking back on his childhood during the 80's. This was the first page-turner I've read in a long time. The author didn't have to use a climbing sense of thrill to keep this mystery going, which is far more impressive to me than just any old thriller or mystery. I also picked this up as a palate cleanser after a very serious and tragic read. Though there is tragedy in this book, it tells it in a very real, yet cozy way. I was left hopeful, as opposed to heartbroken.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews