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King of the Creeps
Tom is an undersized nerd with an oversized nose. He’s got frizzy hair and glasses. He’s the flag monitor. He knows it—he’s a creep. What girl will ever like him?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. Tom may not look like a movie star, but he does look an awful lot like that new folksinger everyone is wild for. So he heads for Greenwich Village, and is soon the proud owner of a cheap guitar.
What follows is an increasingly outrageous sequence of events where Tom fools the girl, learns a song, plays in a coffee house, gets tapped for the Ed Sullivan Show, loses his nerve, loses the girl, and wrestles with his conscience. But he discovers that sometimes, if you pretend to be brave hard enough, you can even fool yourself. And that given the right circumstances, even a creep can change the world.
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. Tom may not look like a movie star, but he does look an awful lot like that new folksinger everyone is wild for. So he heads for Greenwich Village, and is soon the proud owner of a cheap guitar.
What follows is an increasingly outrageous sequence of events where Tom fools the girl, learns a song, plays in a coffee house, gets tapped for the Ed Sullivan Show, loses his nerve, loses the girl, and wrestles with his conscience. But he discovers that sometimes, if you pretend to be brave hard enough, you can even fool yourself. And that given the right circumstances, even a creep can change the world.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published May 9, 2006
25 people want to read
About the author
Steven Banks
111 books41 followersSteven Banks has numerous writing and acting credits. He has been a head writer for several Nickelodeon series including "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron", "The Fairly Odd Parents", "CatDog", and "Sponge Bob Square Pants". His play, "Love Tapes," co-written with Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller fame), was recently performed at the Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood. And he created, wrote, produced, and starred as himself in "The Steven Banks Show," a comedy series which aired on PBS in the 90s.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 24, 2025
Such a fun YA book! Banks exposes teens (ah, all of us, really) as trying to be someone other than who they are, while hiding the new identity from those who really know us. Remember sneaking out after the parents are asleep? Remember sneaking cigarettes? Remember creating a whole new persona when meeting the person of your dreams? This book will bring all that back, and more! It was such a fun read!
March 25, 2011
What a curious little book. The cover almost says 'upper elementary school.' But since Tom is about to kill himself over a girl (and this is supposed to be funny) I started thinking high school. He is seventeen, after all. OK, high school it is. Then, Tom's voice is that of a sad-sack looser who just wants a girl. He has bad hair, a big nose, and bears a resemblance to a running character on the Ed Sullivan show. Sound kind of middle-school? How about the humiliation - not to mention physical pain - of being slapped by a girl? So Jr. High. But he's sneaking out, smoking, and thinking just enough lewd thoughts...yep, high school. Definitely high school. But youngish high school.
The real fly in this ointment is that the Tom, our hero, is indistinct and forgettable, except when he's sounding younger than he's supposed to be.
All in all, I liked Banks' book because I'm a folk singer at heart. Bob Dylan and Woodie Guthrie are my boyz, and like-minded readers can take sustenance from that. This book captures a moment in time - fall, 1963, New York City - that has long since faded, and makes it out to be sweet and fun. Don't know if contemporary teens will grab it, as it doesn't shock much and, aside from the fascination for folk, isn't remarkable. It is light, and not funny enough to stand up to Carter Finally Gets It, and isn't musical enough to keep time with Struts & Frets.
The real fly in this ointment is that the Tom, our hero, is indistinct and forgettable, except when he's sounding younger than he's supposed to be.
All in all, I liked Banks' book because I'm a folk singer at heart. Bob Dylan and Woodie Guthrie are my boyz, and like-minded readers can take sustenance from that. This book captures a moment in time - fall, 1963, New York City - that has long since faded, and makes it out to be sweet and fun. Don't know if contemporary teens will grab it, as it doesn't shock much and, aside from the fascination for folk, isn't remarkable. It is light, and not funny enough to stand up to Carter Finally Gets It, and isn't musical enough to keep time with Struts & Frets.
November 5, 2012
Reviewed by Long Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
Tom Johnson is short, has a big nose, and even has frizzy hair to top it all off. Put quite simply, in Tom's own words, he's a Creep. Set against the immediate post-JFK assassination in 1963, Tom finds himself on his way to a local bridge to jump off following a traumatic Creep-related event. But on his way he finds himself staring across at a record of some folk singer that's short, has a big nose, and frizzy hair to top it all off -- Bob Dylan!
Inspired by his sudden revelation of his resemblance to the legendary folk singer, Tom decides to become a folk singer, too, and make something of himself. He buys a guitar and only has time to learn one chord before a number of things happen, one of which is his meeting Angelina: the groovy, deep poet who might actually be interested in him. Before Tom knows what has happened, he and his one-chord show have a chance to do something big, something important, something Tom doesn't know if even he wants to do.
In his fun and straight-ahead debut novel, Steven Banks tells the story of a new kind of protagonist who must decide for himself what the right thing to do is. KING OF THE CREEPS is a story of lame right-wing jokes, the New York folk scene in Greenwich Village, learning to speak up for yourself, getting the girl, and ultimately deciding your own fate -- and making it count. Banks himself knows twenty-eight guitar chords.
Cheers to S.B.
Tom Johnson is short, has a big nose, and even has frizzy hair to top it all off. Put quite simply, in Tom's own words, he's a Creep. Set against the immediate post-JFK assassination in 1963, Tom finds himself on his way to a local bridge to jump off following a traumatic Creep-related event. But on his way he finds himself staring across at a record of some folk singer that's short, has a big nose, and frizzy hair to top it all off -- Bob Dylan!
Inspired by his sudden revelation of his resemblance to the legendary folk singer, Tom decides to become a folk singer, too, and make something of himself. He buys a guitar and only has time to learn one chord before a number of things happen, one of which is his meeting Angelina: the groovy, deep poet who might actually be interested in him. Before Tom knows what has happened, he and his one-chord show have a chance to do something big, something important, something Tom doesn't know if even he wants to do.
In his fun and straight-ahead debut novel, Steven Banks tells the story of a new kind of protagonist who must decide for himself what the right thing to do is. KING OF THE CREEPS is a story of lame right-wing jokes, the New York folk scene in Greenwich Village, learning to speak up for yourself, getting the girl, and ultimately deciding your own fate -- and making it count. Banks himself knows twenty-eight guitar chords.
Cheers to S.B.
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April 8, 2008King of the Creeps, by Steven Banks
Tom is a high school senior, and a late bloomer. He can handle that because he has personality and that can take you far. What he can’t stand is the fact that he has an oversized nose, frizzy hair, and glasses – and he has never dated, let alone kissed a girl. He feels like a creep, and what girl will ever like him?
But then he overhears two classmates talking about the new folksinger, Bob Dylan and how he is so cute. Bob Dylan has an oversized nose, frizzy hair, and sunglasses, and Tom realizes he resembles this popular singer. So, like a rolling stone, Tom heads for Greenwich Village to get a guitar and change from a zero to a hero.
Grades 6 – 9, Humorous Fiction, AHE-4480.
Submitted by Jocelyn Mullen, 3/11/08
Tom is a high school senior, and a late bloomer. He can handle that because he has personality and that can take you far. What he can’t stand is the fact that he has an oversized nose, frizzy hair, and glasses – and he has never dated, let alone kissed a girl. He feels like a creep, and what girl will ever like him?
But then he overhears two classmates talking about the new folksinger, Bob Dylan and how he is so cute. Bob Dylan has an oversized nose, frizzy hair, and sunglasses, and Tom realizes he resembles this popular singer. So, like a rolling stone, Tom heads for Greenwich Village to get a guitar and change from a zero to a hero.
Grades 6 – 9, Humorous Fiction, AHE-4480.
Submitted by Jocelyn Mullen, 3/11/08
September 9, 2008
Tom is an outsider. Dorky, Geeky, uncool, or as this 1960’s-set narrator describes, a creep. He decides to become a folk singer like Bob Dylan, because if that creep can get beautiful girls through singing than so can Tom. A trip to Greenwich Village to buy his first guitar launches a series of events that will have readers buzzing through the pages wondering, “How on Earth will he get out of this one?” King of the Creeps includes some cultural references that may be lost on young readers, but the story moves quickly enough that is shouldn’t matter.
June 9, 2010
This book takes place back in the 1950s where Jfk gets assainated and he is bulleid and pick on. He decieds to make a joke of President John F. Kenndy and he gets a load of detetion and hated all over school. Then he goes across town to buy a guitar when he hears that a lot of girl at school likes this one country singer. He decides to try and learn how to play, but then he gets his guitar adn wallet jacked getting back home. he then meets a girl in town and his lies begins changing his life.
July 20, 2010
Very funny book. I love teen books with a historical background, with the 60's a particular favorite. Some of the events may be a little far fetched, but I just suspended my doubts and just enjoyed and laughed. Too bad that most teens aren't going to get the funny Tiny Tim cameo! He just freaked my out when I was little!
April 2, 2011
This was a lot of fun to read, and gives the real flavor of the Sixties as it chronicles a boy's move from square to cool. I'm so disappointed to find that it's out of print already; I wanted to get it for my library.
November 12, 2008
In this book i learned how one thing can change my whole world. Also, in this book i learned more about life and the good and bad thing that are included.
June 16, 2012
better than i thought. setting is in the 60s. which is the first for a teen book for me. but they did it well.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews