Five high-school misfits create a successful band, “Lemonade Mouth,” despite constant attacks from popular rivals. One too shy, one too rebellious, all too eccentric and sent to detention, the group meets and accidentally discovers that they have musical talents in sync with one another. The music teacher spots their gift immediately, and pushes them to form a band. Against all odds, they battle their own fears and peculiarities, discovering a combined ability to create unusual, haunting music that charms the savage student body. When bad luck destroys their chance at fame, they find maturity instead. Young readers who’ve experienced the qualms of disrespect from the in-crowd will identify with the plight and the fight. Told from the perspective of the band members in diary entries, their individual characters emerge to charm readers, blending into a work with as much soul as Lemonade Mouth’s music. (Fiction. YA)
