Brian and his friends, Gretchen and Kim, were geeky misfits in middle school but the explosion of the punk music scene allowed them to craft new, tough attitudes to protect themselves against the world.

Brian attempts to get advice on how to woo Gretchen from his friends Bobby B., a handsome stoner who cheats on Kim regularly; and Rod, a quiet African-American nerd with a huge music collection.

An introspective person, Brian becomes increasingly aware of the class differences and racism in his town when the junior prom becomes segregated as the black and white students can't agree on the theme song.

Donna Seaman, writing for Booklist, called Hairstyles of the Damned "a funny, hard-rocking first-person tale of teenage angst and discovery" and highlighted how Meno "revels in the massive confusion and helpless bravado of adolescence".

[1] Publishers Weekly similarly discussed how "Meno ably explores Brian's emotional uncertainty and his poignant youthful search for meaning".

[1] Conversely, Publishers Weekly found that Meno "deals honestly with teenage violence—though Gretchen's fights have a certain slapstick quality, Brian's occasional bouts of anger and destruction seem very real".