Private School Punk

2026 SOVAS AWARD NOMINEE - BEST NARRATION (TEEN)

FULL CAST AUDIOBOOK WITH MUSIC AND EFFECTS!

THE STORY

London in the year 1976, a place and a time desperate for change. Chris, a 17-year-old American Air Force brat is shoved into the alien world of a British private (public) school. A gifted classical cellist, Chris struggles to reconcile classical music's focus on control and technique with the 'can't play' rebellious energy that is the punk movement. Punk allows him to let out pain that has been held in too long. He meets Johnny Rotten and is inspired to start his own band. When Chris is drawn into a deadly conflict with an abusive teacher, his only weapon is his music. He used to think music changed nothing, but now he discovers that music changes everything.

OVER NINE HOURS OF PUNKY GOODNESS

The original soundtrack is available on Spotify and the print book with over 150 illustrations is at privateschoolpunk.com

ADVANCE PRAISE:

"Chris Valentine will rip your heart out. Between every line of this novel, the pulsing rhythm of punk rock blasts down the streets of London. This is a story of the power of art and the courage of one person to wield that power so that justice is won."

KATHI APPELT National Book Award Finalist.

"Private School Punk is riotous and wise, the writing as sharp as Johnny Rotten's dead hedgehog hairdo. It's a mad, punk-drunk pogo dance, hilarious and deeply moving when it counts. It's also a pitch-perfect musical history, in all its chaotic splendor. I loved it!"

TIM WYNNE-JONES Two-time Boston Globe Horn Book Award-winner.