WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE

Soledad Reyes, a Cuban-American high-school senior, lives to dance and hopes to win a spot in a professional ballet company. When classmate Jonathan Crandall, a handsome and hunky horn player, suggests she audition as Carmen in the competitive world of drum and bugle corps, she’s intrigued—and ends up nabbing the role as well as Jonathan’s heart. Hampered by hazy descriptions of the competitive action, the conflict-free overlong middle section drags, though it eventually becomes clear that something is off with Jonathan. His feelings for Soledad have a suffocating intensity, and he’s locked in an unhealthy battle with his controlling father. For her part, Soledad, who is experiencing intangible knee problems, enjoys a forbidden flirtation with a handsome Spanish futboler. Finally, in a gasp-out-loud moment around the three-quarter mark, the novel takes a shocking turn then moves at a swift pace as all the loose ends are neatly tied up. Soledad’s first-person narration feels authentic, but the material would engage more if it were shorter and sharper. (Fiction. YA)