With Adios Nirvana, Conrad Wesselhoeft takes readers into the chiaroscuro world of high school Junior Jonathan, writer/guitarist/seeker/mourner, whose twin brother has died after a skateboard accident. Deep grief and uncertainty about his own life and future places this lovable, warm, talented yet troubled youth on the path to either failure or success, and the unfolding of his journey captures, with a cast of interesting characters, the healing process that loving friends and music can provide when one deals with big themes like life and death. And there’s the Eddie Vedder Rickenbacker guitar, too.

Wesselhoeft paints Seattle perfectly from the weather to the streets, casting a mood that every Northwest inhabitant knows, moving Jonathan into the lives of people who need him, astound him, teach him, and ultimately lead him to find affirmation, a writing career, and the perfect musical moment.

It’s a great first book mixing music and magic with the everyday life of a kid seeing that every moment of light and dark is a miracle, despite evidence to the contrary.Life throws us curves.  To live through them, “The secret is to close your hand on jagged glass, then open it and find a butterfly.” Recommended.