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Cake is the band Eli was listening to when he figured out his dad had to have contact to the outside world when he kept getting new cd's

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Cake (stylized CAKE) is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California, consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Daniel McCallum, and drummer Todd Roper. The band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan vocals, and their wide-ranging musical influences, including country music, Mariachi, rock, funk, Iranian folk music, and hip hop.

Cake was formed in 1991 by McCrea, DiFiore, Greg Brown (guitar), Frank French (drums), and Shon Meckfessel (bass) who soon left and was replaced by Gabe Nelson. Following the self-release of its debut album, Motorcade of Generosity, the band was signed to Capricorn Records in 1995 and released its first single, " Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle", which hit number 35 on the Modern Rock Tracks music chart and was featured on MTV's 120 Minutes; French and Nelson then left the band, and were replaced by Todd Roper and Victor Damiani. Cake's second album, 1996's Fashion Nugget, went platinum on the strength of its lead single, " The Distance". Following a tour of Europe and the United States, both Brown and Damiani announced they were leaving Cake, which led to speculation about the band's future; McCrea eventually recruited Xan McCurdy to take over on guitar, and persuaded Nelson to return.

Prolonging the Magic, the band's third album, was released in 1998 and went platinum, having shipped over one million units; this was followed three years later by Comfort Eagle, the band's first album on Columbia Records, featuring the single " Short Skirt/Long Jacket" which hit number 7 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Following a series of tours, including several versions of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour, the band released Pressure Chief in 2004, its second and last album on Columbia. After creating its own label, Upbeat Records, the band released Showroom of Compassion in 2011, which became its first album to debut at the top of the Billboard charts, selling 44,000 copies in the first week after release.

Cake was formed in 1991 when John McCrea, a Sacramento, California native who had moved to Los Angeles with a band only to see it "quickly crumble around him", returned to Sacramento. He began looking for a new band to play with, having "grown tired of Sacramento's coffeehouse circuit", and quickly attracted trumpet player Vince DiFiore, guitarist Greg Brown, bassist Shon Meckfessel and drummer Frank French. All were active in the music scene at the time; DiFiore notes that "[McCrea] came back and stole us from other bands". The band soon came up with the name "Cake"; rather than referring to the foodstuff, the name is meant to be "like when something insidiously becomes a part of your life...[we] mean it more as something that cakes onto your shoe and is just sort of there until you get rid of it". Meckfessel soon left to attend college, and was replaced by Gabe Nelson. After touring and becoming part of the club scene in San Francisco, the band independently recorded and released Motorcade of Generosity in 1994, selling copies from their van as a method of paying touring expenses.

Motorcade was named one of the best indie releases of 1994 by , and after a concert at the Great American Music Hall Bonnie Simmons agreed to manage the band, leading to them signing a deal with Capricorn Records, who re-released the album in 1995. The first single, " Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle", hit number 35 on the Modern Rock Tracks music chart and was featured on MTV's 120 Minutes. Critical reactions to the album were largely positive; Stephen Thompson in the Wisconsin State Journal described it as possessing "great lyrics, creative instrumentation and production that's about as simple as production gets", Thomas Conner praised it for being "soulful and smooth, witty and gritty, this record makes the ghosts of Bob Wills, Buddy Holly and Lou Reed smile" in the Tulsa World, and Matt Weitz in the Dallas Observer noted its "gimlet eye and sardonic humor". The album was eventually nominated for a Bammy Award in the category of "Outstanding Debut Album".

Nevertheless, some critics were less appreciative; John Wirt, in The Advocate, praised the album's sense of humor and "delicious" irreverence but noted that "[the] musicianship in Motorcade of Generosity suggests the Cake guys are mediocre players". Mindy LaBernz, in The Austin Chronicle, described the album as "cover-free, and, since we're on the subject, genre-free. A quartet made five by a trumpet player, Cake carry themselves with the snittiness of technically proficient, lyrically aware music lovers, who are almost anachronistically untrendy and brazenly proud of it". The signing to Capricorn and re-release of Motorcade led to both French and Nelson leaving the band, citing their dislike of "the prospect of extensive national touring"; they were replaced by Todd Roper and Victor Damiani respectively.

Fashion Nugget, Cake's second album, was released on September 17, 1996. Like Motorcade, it was produced by the band and released on Capricorn Records. Cake considered the album more professionally produced than Motorcade, despite references to its "raw" sound, and the reception was again generally positive; critics noted the broadening of Cake's sound, with Joshua Green noting in the that "Nugget spans a broader range of topics than did Motorcade, with similarly appealing results", and Matt Weitz in the Dallas Observer saying that "The gimlet eye and sardonic humor of 1994's Motorcade of Generosity is intact, but Fashion Nugget is aptly named; it updates Motorcade with beatboxy soul and hip-hop rhythms". The album's first single, " The Distance", written by Greg Brown, became the band's biggest hit to date and is considered their "ubiquitous" song; it hit number 5 on the RPM Alternative 30, and entered the Modern Rock Tracks top 5.

On the strength of "The Distance", Fashion Nugget was certified gold on December 9, 1996 and platinum on April 10, 1997. The second single from Fashion Nugget, a cover of the Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris song " I Will Survive", hit number 38 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Although the band described it as a serious take on the original, one they'd been playing live for years, original performer Gloria Gaynor considers it her least favorite version of the song due to its use of profanity. Following Fashion Nugget's release, the band toured the United States, playing in cities including Tulsa, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Dallas. They later toured overseas, visiting the United Kingdom as a support act for Counting Crows, playing their own shows alongside the tour at venues including Dingwalls in London. The band also toured Japan; a later tour of the US, starting in Minneapolis in June 1997, was cancelled due to illness when McCrea was diagnosed with "fatigue and extreme exhaustion". After McCrea recovered, the band continued touring, playing at the Big Stink festival in Vancouver, Washington, and the Jayhawk Music Festival in Lawrence, Kansas.

1997 also saw lineup changes; bassist Victor Damiani and guitarist Greg Brown both left, prompting speculation about the band's survival; McCrea noted that "Musically, there was a really great symbiosis and I really felt that it (their departures, especially Brown's) was the most stupid thing in the world", and said that he had considered dissolving the band. Brown and Damiani formed the "new-wave influenced" Deathray; their places within Cake were taken by Xan McCurdy and Gabe Nelson, whom McCrea persuaded to rejoin the band.

With Brown and Damiani's departure, McCrea felt "free to experiment" with the next album, 1998's Prolonging the Magic; he wrote and produced every song. As a result of this experimentation, the album was noted as "loaded with spiced-up instrumentation, including a few new ingredients like the pedal steel guitar and musical saw thrown in for extra flavour". McCrea stated that he deliberately "approached writing this record without the guitar as the central assumption of all life in the universe". described it as an "inspired collection of leftfield rock", while Thor Christensen of The Dallas Morning News said that it "brims with the same dry humor the Sacramento band displayed in past hits such as 'The Distance' and 'Rock and Roll Lifestyle': The leadoff track, 'Satan Is My Motor,' puts a devilish new spin on the rock 'n' roll car-song tradition, while 'When You Sleep' revolves around the question of what your fingers do while the rest of the body snoozes". Other reviewers were less complimentary, with Mike Pattenden in writing that "Prolonging the Magic suggests that [Cake] may well be destined to go down as one-hit wonders ... While a handful stand out - the country waltz Mexico, You Turn the Screws and Hem of Your Garment - Prolonging the Magic shows McRea and company to be little more than an above average bar-room act. Cake are surviving on songwriting crumbs". The album peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200, was listed in The Columbian as the second best album of 1998, and eventually went platinum after shipping over 1 million units.

The album's first single, " Never There", hit number 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, and was followed by " Let Me Go" in 1999, which hit number 30. Following Prolonging the Magic's release, the band toured the United States, playing in cities including San Diego and Los Angeles. A tour of Europe was temporarily postponed in March after McCrea broke a bone in his hand while moving furniture, which also led to the delay of the European release of Prolonging the Magic. Both the album release and the tour happened in mid-April, with Cake playing at the London Astoria. Later show locations in North America included Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri, and Toronto. A third single, " Sheep Go to Heaven", was released in 2001.

For their fourth album, Comfort Eagle, the band signed a deal with Columbia Records. Comfort Eagle was both produced and arranged by the band, and was recorded at Paradise Studios in Sacramento and Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. Following the recording, drummer Todd Roper left the band, citing the demands extended touring would put on his time, and the commitments his two children, Griffin and Bella, represented. He was replaced by Pete McNeal. The album's release was preceded by the release of its first single, " Short Skirt/Long Jacket", described as a parable about "the relationship between prosperity and the population boom ... There's nothing more procreational than economic prosperity". An accompanying video was directed by McCrea, and recorded using the DV system; it featured recordings of members of the public listening to the song and giving their opinion. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" hit number 2 on the Bear Rock Top 10 in Canada and number 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks; the video became one of the 30 most requested tracks on MTV; writers later listed the video as the 5th best of 2001.

Comfort Eagle itself was released on July 24, 2001, to good reviews; Michael D. Clark of The Houston Chronicle described it as "Cake at its best", while a reviewer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution stated that the album's songs were "among the best of the band's career", praising McCrea for widening his vocal repertoire. James Montgomery, writing for , noted a stylistic change, saying that "While the core sound of the band - honky tonk guitars, mariachi horns and salsa rhythms - remain intact, they have been stripped down to the core, replaced instead with ill Casio beats, rubbery funk and Stax-style horn bleats". The album sold 22,000 copies in its first week, the highest sales in the band's history, and eventually went gold. With the exception of a slot at the Atlanta On The Bricks Festival, playing for 90,000 people, the band chose to start the tour with small rather than large shows, such as in the Sacramento area, where they played for around 100 people. They launched their first full tour for the album in September, playing in the United States, Canada and across Europe.

A second single, " Love You Madly", was released in 2002, with an accompanying video again produced by McCrea. The video featured DiFiore and McNeal competing in a cooking competition, judged by Rick James, Phyllis Diller and Jeff Smith, and was noted by as "continuing the fresh, witty, and downright fun style seen in the "Short Skirt" video". Cake had planned a second tour of Europe, followed by a series of shows around the United States, but in view of the September 11 attacks chose not to travel overseas. Instead, the band streamed a performance internationally from the Yahoo! headquarters in California, playing emailed requests. The United States tour went ahead as planned, with Cake playing concerts in Birmingham, Alabama, St. Petersburg, Florida, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas. This was followed by the Unlimited Sunshine Tour, a traveling festival headlined and planned by the band and featuring Modest Mouse, De La Soul and The Flaming Lips. A second Unlimited Sunshine Tour was undertaken in 2003, featuring Cake, Cheap Trick and The Hackensaw Boys.

Cake's fifth album, Pressure Chief, was recorded in June 2004 in a converted house in Sacramento; the album was again released on Columbia Records. Before its official release date on October 5, the band played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival and KBCO's World Class Rockfest. The album was also preceded by its first single, " No Phone", which hit number 13 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart; the song covered the ubiquitous and privacy-invading use of cell phones, and was described by Jeremy Mahadevan of the New Straits Times as "a traditionally minimalist Cake anthem, with a killer melody and, unique to this album, fairly extensive use of synths". A second single, "Wheels", was also released but failed to chart. Pressure Chief itself hit number 17 on the Billboard top 200, spending 7 weeks in the charts, and received mixed reviews from critics. Although it was acknowledged as a continuation of their old work, albeit with an increased use of synthesisers, Sam Spies of the Richmond Times-Dispatch noted that "the experiments in style that made Cake fun to listen to have all but disappeared from 'Pressure Chief' ... What's left is mostly uninspired, so-called alternative rock", and Graeme Hammond of the Sunday Herald Sun wrote that "the melodies are listless, the album bereft of anything with the verve of Short Skirt/Long Jacket or Comfort Eagle".

Other critics were more generous; Doug Elfman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal called it "another great and bizarre, twangy album of alternative-singer-songwriting stories about cars and horrible relationships", while a reviewer in the New Straits Times noted its "smart, subtly dissident, and always catchy pop". Following Pressure Chief's release, the band toured North America, playing in cities including Albany, New York, and Montreal. A second tour, in 2005, saw the band headline the 20-city Virgin College Mega Tour, playing alongside Gomez; while the Tour was in California, the band announced that it had been dropped from Columbia Records. This was followed by a tour of Europe, as well as concerts in Australia and Jakarta, along with a 2006 repeat of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour, featuring Cake, Tegan and Sara and Gogol Bordello.

Cake later formed its own label, Upbeat Records, which allowed the band to release the compilation album B-Sides and Rarities on August 14, 2007. This was followed by a series of concerts, including at the IndigO2 in London, and a performance in Anchorage, Alaska. Reviews of B-Sides and Rarities were generally good; Devin Grant of The Post and Courier wrote that "For an album full of odds and ends, this Cake release is every bit as good, and every bit as fun, as the band's previous studio releases", while Catherine P. Lewis of The Washington Post noted that, although several live tracks reduced the album's strength, "there are still enough charming nuggets to make this album less disposable than the typical rarities compilation".

After six years without a new studio album, Cake recorded Showroom of Compassion in 2010 and released it on January 11, 2011. Rather than having it professionally recorded, the band built their own solar-powered studio in Sacramento over five years and chose to produce the album themselves there. The album was preceded by its first single, " Sick of You", which was released in September 2010, hitting number 4 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, selling 44,000 copies in its first week of release. It marked the first time a Cake album had hit the number 1 spot, and at the time was the lowest sales numbers for album at the top of the Billboard 200.

The album received mostly positive reviews. Scott Bergen of described it as "one of their best albums", while Jim Farber of the wrote that "Fifteen years after they batted out their first left-field hit with 'The Distance,' the band's sound and words still have bite". George Lang of The Oklahoman, however, wrote that it was "frustratingly lacking in many more songs worthy of the band's late-'90s boom period". To promote the album, Cake performed onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno before releasing Showroom of Compassion's second single, "Long Time." This was followed by a spring tour of both Europe and North America, concluding with a show in Toronto on May 21. The song "Long Time" was also played in season 1 episode 12 of Showtime's series .

On February 26, 2011, Cake performed a live set for " Guitar Center Sessions" on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with program host Nic Harcourt. In September 2011, Cake released a 24-page, hand-made visual book for their song, Bound Away.

The band released a vinyl box set consisting of their six studio albums, their rarities album and the previously unreleased, Live from the Crystal Palace for Record Store Day 2014. A new studio album was announced for an early 2014 release, although in September 2014 McCrea admitted they hadn't yet begun to record a new album. In Fall 2015 bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi left the band. In Summer 2016 Todd Roper rejoined the group as drummer. Daniel McCallum and Casey Lipka have both played as bassist during live performances since 2016.

On August 3, 2018, Cake released " Sinking Ship," supposedly the lead single from an upcoming seventh studio album. Cake also hinted at an upcoming seventh studio album in their bio for the Kaaboo Music Festival website, saying the album was due for release in late 2018. On October 25, 2018, the band released the music video for 'Sinking Ship," also announcing that money raised by single sales would go towards Doctors Without Borders. The band have been inactive since then, and as of January 2021 no new studio album has been announced. As of January 11, 2021, they have not released an album in a decade.

On 1/19/21, Cake released a demo for a new song titled "I want to hold you (Responsible)" on instagram and Twitter.

Cake incorporates a wide range of genres into its music, including country music, mariachi, new wave, college rock, jazz, funk, Iranian folk music, Brazilian music and hip hop. McCrea himself cites Hank Williams, Tom Zé, the Golden Gate Quartet and Sly and the Family Stone as particular influences. The band is most often noted for four things: the prominence of DiFiore's trumpet lines; McCrea's ironic, sarcastic lyrics; his "droll, deadpan ... monotone" vocals; and the use of the vibraslap. DiFiore's trumpet work originated with McCrea's desire for a second melodic instrument to go with a song he had written; "A lead guitar playing those lines would have been really hokey. I like it when it's a contrapuntal thing, where the guitar is doing one melody, the vocal is doing another melody, and the trumpet plays this third melody. If the music can be transparent enough, you can hear all three at the same time".

The song " Short Skirt/Long Jacket" was used as the theme music for the NBC series and the film starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, and Andy Griffith. An instrumental section (similar to its usage in ) was used in the films All About Steve, The Change Up, and . Apple used the song in an advertisement for their 6th generation iPod nano.

"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" was used in the 2001 episode of the TV series ER titled "Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic".

"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" was used in a Fastrack commercial for Summer Bags.

"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is a playable song in the video game Rock Band 4.

"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is used in a series of split tracks on the electronic card mixing game DropMix by Hasbro.

Current Members

Vince DiFiore - trumpet, keyboards, melodica, auxiliary percussion, background vocals (1991-present)

John McCrea - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, vibraslap (1991-present)

Todd Roper - drums, background vocals (1994-2001, 2016-present)

Xan McCurdy - lead guitar, background vocals (1997-present)

Daniel McCallum - bass guitar, background vocals (2016-present)

Former members

Greg Brown - lead guitar, organ, background vocals (1991-1997)

Frank French - drums, background vocals (1991-1994)

Shon Meckfessel - bass guitar, background vocals (1991)

Gabe Nelson - bass guitar, background vocals (1992-1994, 1997-2015)

Victor Damiani - bass guitar, background vocals (1994-1997)

Pete McNeal - drums, background vocals (2001-2004)

Paulo Baldi - drums, percussion, background vocals (2004-2015)

Casey Lipka - bass guitar, background vocals (2016-2018)

Studio albums

Cake have been nominated for five awards: four California Music Awards and one MTV Video Music Award.

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Cake (stylized CAKE) is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California, consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Daniel McCallum, and drummer Todd Roper. The band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan vocals, and their wide-ranging musical influences, including country music, Mariachi, rock, funk, Iranian folk music, and hip hop.

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Book Review

This science fiction book by S.A. Bodeen is published by Feiwel and Friends, a division of Macmillan.

The Compound is written for kids ages 12 and up. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness.

Plot Summary

Eli Yanakakis is the 9-year-old son of billionaire Rex Yanakakis, a man obsessed with the possibility of nuclear war. When a nuclear bomb falls on the United States, Rex brings his family into a large, furnished fallout shelter. Rex accidentally leaves behind his son Eddy, who is Eli's twin. Eli enters the compound with his parents, his older sister, Lexie, and his younger sister, Therese.

Six years later, Eli wonders if his brother may have somehow survived the fallout outside the family compound. Life in the compound is getting more difficult. Eli's mom, Clea, is pregnant with her fourth child in six years. The three youngest Yanakakis children are called the Supplements, and Eli has never met them. These three children live in a yellow room in the compound, but Eli avoids going near the room. Eli's mom cares about the Supplements, but Eli does not want to get attached to them because he knows that his father intends for these children to be a food source for the older family members. Eli's mother doesn't trust her husband.

Rex shows Eli a special laboratory where he plans to clone a human being. Eli does not want Rex to clone members of the family in order to have a larger supply of meat. Eli gives in to his mother's request to meet the Supplements. The children's names are Lucas, Quinn and Cara. Eli develops a deep love for the children and tries to convince Lexie that they should stand up against their father and keep him from his plan to eventually kill the children.

Eli discovers that the Internet works in the vicinity of his father's study, though Rex never told the rest of the family. Eli manages to access the Internet, and he communicates with his twin brother, Eddy, who is still alive outside the compound. Eli discovers that there was no nuclear fallout. Eddy had believed that his parents and siblings were dead. Rex made it appear as if all of his family, except Eddy, died in a fire when they left. Eddy tells Eli that Rex has a family history of insanity and that Eli and the rest of the family are in danger. Eddy promises to find Eli.

Eli confronts Rex about his deception, and Rex admits that he engineered his family's imprisonment. He says he wanted to see how they would handle challenges and adversity. He arranged their food shortages in order to see if they were willing to be strong survivors even if it meant resorting to cannibalism. Eli punches his father. Rex is knocked unconscious and is taken to the compound's infirmary. Before passing out again, Rex leaves Eli with a clue about how to open the locked door of the compound.

Clea, still pregnant, begins to bleed heavily. Eli knows that he must get his family out of the compound before she dies. He finds a blank piece of parchment hidden in the lining of Therese's oboe case, and when he exposes the paper to ammonia fumes, he discovers a series of numbers that had been written in invisible ink. This lock combination contains over two-dozen numbers, and before Eli can commit the numbers to memory, Rex wakes up and finds Eli. Rex threatens to kill Lucas if Eli does not stop trying to escape, so Eli is forced to hand over the paper with the combination to the lock. Eli, Lexie and Therese have to work together to figure out the combination without the paper. Eli remembers a few of the numbers, and he and his sisters piece together the lengthy combination by filling in their birth dates, plus the dates of several famous nuclear explosions, such as the days when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Eli runs to type in the combination, and he escapes, but his father locks him outside of the compound.

In the woods outside the compound, Rex's friend and accountant Phil lands a helicopter. Eli hopes that Phil will help the Yanakakis family escape from Rex, but Phil says that he intends to help Rex move his family to another underground compound located in the South Pacific. Phil opens the hatch to the compound and lets Rex out. Rex gives Phil a black box that is designed to set off charges to destroy the compound as soon as the Yanakakis family leaves the area.

Eli is angry about the plan to move his family from one compound to another, so he tackles Phil who drops the black box. Alarms begin to blare, and Phil says that only 10 minutes remain before the compound explodes. Eli goes back through the open compound door to help his mother and siblings escape the blast. Rex runs past his fleeing family and disappears into the compound to retrieve key parts of his research. Eli helps his mother out of the compound and directs all of his siblings to run away from Phil's helicopter, not toward it. Eli watches from a distance as Phil's helicopter flies away, and he is not sure if his father escapes the explosion with Phil. As Eli and his mother and siblings wait in the forest and wonder what to do next, another helicopter arrives. A search party has arrived to help them, and Eli's twin, Eddy, emerges from the helicopter and hugs him.

In the weeks following their rescue, Eli's mother gives birth to another healthy child. The FBI begins investigating Rex for abducting and torturing his family, though the FBI has not been able to locate him. Clea takes control of Rex's software company and takes all eight of her children on an extended vacation. Eli ends the novel full of hope for his future.

Christian Beliefs

The compound contains a chapel that features a golden cross. Eli recalls going to a Methodist church almost every Sunday before entering the compound. Eli says he learned many Bible verses. Rex tithed generously to the church, and Eli says their pastor was always glad to see the family, partly because of these donations. Inside the compound, Rex routinely delivers a small sermon to his family on Sundays, while his wife reads Bible verses and his oldest daughter plays the organ. After a few years, Rex abruptly stops holding church services without giving an explanation. Eli looks through his father's Bible.

Eli believes that his family has become godless, especially after he realizes the horror of his father's plan for the Supplements. When Eli first discovers what he thinks is the code to unlock the compound door, he prays that the piece of paper will contain the correct combination. He thinks about how he hopes that God is listening to him. Later, when Eli has figured out the door's code and unlocks it, he thanks God out loud.

Eli tells his father that cloning a human being goes against nature, and he tells Lexie that cloning is like playing God.

Other Belief Systems

Eli thinks of a quote by atomic bomb inventor J. Robert Oppenheimer, where Oppenheimer paraphrases a line from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu text.

Rex Yanakakis does not openly subscribe to any particular non-Christian belief system, but he views himself as a higher power. Rex's friend Phil says that Rex enjoys manipulating people just to see how far they will bend their own morals and beliefs in order to win his favor. Rex seems to idolize a survivalist philosophy, and he is interested in seeing whether his family will be willing to accept cannibalism and human cloning in order to survive. Rex didn't originally intend to practice cannibalism, but he hoped that his older children would be strong enough to agree to the practice. Through email, Eli's brother Eddy blames Rex's extreme behaviors on insanity, but Clea says that her husband is perfectly lucid and rational.

Clea Yanakakis has a very subservient attitude toward her husband. She does not protest any of Rex's actions or behaviors until it seems as if he truly means to eventually kill and eat her youngest three children, the Supplements. Clea tells Eli that she always followed Rex and went along with his ideas because she was happy to be connected to a man who was wealthy. Clea wants to ensure the comfort and security of her children, so she continues to follow her husband, who seems to be providing this comfort and security, even when he is actually willing to harm their children psychologically, emotionally and physically.

Authority Roles

Rex insists that he has to rush to get his family to safety in the compound. He is content to have saved three of his four children and does not leave the safety of the compound to look for Eddy. In the compound, Rex has recreated his children's favorite objects and furnishings. For Eli, the opulent surroundings do not make up for the loss of his twin.

The children's near-perfect obedience is contrasted with the lack of obvious discipline in their lives. Before they entered the compound, Eli recalls that his father never took the time to discipline his children. When Eli misbehaved, Rex would tell him to go outside for some fresh air. Eli was known for small acts of mischief as a child, but he never openly defied his father. Eli's mother, Clea, is not said to have corrected or punished her children for wrongdoing. The children seem somewhat fearful of their father, but no examples are given about why they respect his commands to such an extreme degree.

At one point during their stay in the compound, Rex decides that the older children should drink some of their pregnant mother's breast milk. Rex takes milk from an electric breast pump and puts it in the kids' drinks without their knowledge.

Rex threatens to strangle his younger son Lucas unless Eli abandons his mission to unlock the compound.

Eli is comforted by his mother's presence, and he loves her, but he avoids talking with her or touching her. Eli is displeased with his current life underground, and he has developed an antisocial persona that not even his mother can soften.

Clea misses Eddy and keeps his empty room free of dust. She loves the Supplements, yet she originally agreed to give birth to them for the purpose of raising them as meat.

Eli stands up to his father and becomes a leader in his family. He decides to do what is right, regardless of his circumstances.

Profanity/Violence

The characters occasionally use words such as h---bent, frickin', h---, p-ssed, screw you, and a--. God's name is taken in vain a few times with oh my.

When Rex admits that he moved his family to the compound just to see how they would react to an extreme situation, his pregnant wife, Clea, begins to hit him. When Rex pushes Clea away, Eli punches Rex. Blood flies from Rex's broken nose, and he falls to the ground, which knocks him unconscious. Eli begins to strangle his unconscious father, but his sister Lexie stops him.

When Eli unlocks the compound door, Rex discovers him and tries to yank him back down into the compound. Eli kicks Rex in the face, which results in more blood and swelling.

Kissing/Sex/Homosexuality

Eli's mother has been pregnant for the majority of their stay in the compound, and Eli comments about the crassness of his father breeding new children to be a food source for his existing children.

Credits

Readability Age Range

12 and Up

Publisher

Feiwel and Friends, a division of Macmillan

Awards

ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2009; Texas Lone Star Reading List, 2009; Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award for sixth to ninth grade books, 2010-2011

We hope this review was both interesting and useful. Please share it with family and friends who would benefit from it as well.

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"I am at a loss for words to adequately express how much it means to my husband and me to know that there is an organization like Focus that is rooting for us. Just today I was reading Psalm 37 and thinking about how your ministry provides ways to 'dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.'

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The Compound by S.A. Booden Expected Publication Date: April 29, 2008 Length: 256 pages Publisher:Macmillian Obtained Via: Bought #1 in The Compound View at the Traffic light: Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they've become accustomed to their new life.

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This is the storage room eli had to take stock on when found eddy's beef jerky.

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The library where Eli was reading.

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When Eli and his mom were talking Eli was on the treadmill and his mom was on the bike.

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The lock only Eli's dad knows the combination to.

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Eli got an internet singal on Eddy's computer when he was outside of his dads office while his dad was in there.

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The message that came up when Eli tried to connect to the internet while his dad wasnt there.

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Picture of S.A. Bodeen and her hit book "The Compound"

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Picture of S.A. Bodeen and her hit book "The Compound"

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"The Fallout" by S.A. Bodeen is the sequel to her first book "The Compound." It is said to come out in 2014.

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the trailer for the book the "compound" you should read it

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Interveiw and breif summary of the compound

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Interveiw and breif summary of the compound

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The Stickney-Forest View Public Library District Youth Services and Teen Department

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Exclusive Interview with Author S.A. Bodeen

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Visit S. A. Bodeen's website Teen Scene is very lucky to have this exclusive interview with award-winning writer S. A. Bodeen, author of The Compound, one of the books selected for Morton High School's Freshmen Summer Reading Project. The story centers on 9-year-old Eli Yanakakis and his family who escape nuclear war by fleeing to their...

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Another Youtube video for the book by S.A. Bodeen "The Compound"

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Another Youtube video for the book by S.A. Bodeen "The Compound"

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Book Trailer for The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

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Watch this book trailer video for The Compound, a young adult novel by S.A. Bodeen. In this thrilling YA adventure novel, Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they've become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy.

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Book review from Google

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A book review of "The Compound" by S.A. Bodeen

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The entrance where Eli, Theresse (sister), Lexie (sister), Clea (mom), and Rex (dad) Yanakakis took cover when the nuclear war started. They had left Eli's brother ,Eddy, and their grandmother outside of the compound doors, because Eddy was allergic to cats and and when he was in the r.v. his allergies were really bad, but the family had left his allergy medicine at the cabin. Their grandmother was the only one who was supposed to be left out, but Eddy had snuck into the van and he was left out of the compound along with his grandmother.

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This is the compound while it was being built.

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This is a picture of what i think the compound looks like while it was being built on the outside