A reasonably amusing gift for band students but not one they’ll want to revisit.
A book of rhyming poetry for concert and marching band nerds.
This illustrated collection presents a lighthearted love of all things band—from jokes about different instruments (arrogant trumpet players come up several times and there’s a saxophonist who has four extra fingers) to silly rhymes. An introduction titled “Stereotypes” explains how stereotypes can be harmful and concludes that “we can choose to let them shape us, or we can choose to write a silly poem book about them and laugh it off.” However, this push back against stereotypes, such as that band nerds are awkward and undatable, would all play better if so many poems didn’t fall flat. Additionally, unkind comments about people’s appearances (including pictures that caricature someone with an overbite and a woman whose too-tight top pops open) and the reliance on gender norms (the band director is always depicted as a man) strike a wrong note. A longer poem about a group of boys and their male band director on a trip who spy on strangers being intimate in a hot tub—“we all remember ‘hot tub’ night / As the night we all grew up”—feels out of place for the mostly child-friendly tone of the collection. The black-and-white line illustrations add context and additional humor to the poems. Most characters appear White, but there is some ethnic diversity throughout.
A reasonably amusing gift for band students but not one they’ll want to revisit. (Poetry. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72821-982-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
A lively novel with as much appeal as the band itself.
Saturday has everything a boy band should: sleek choreography, stylish clothes, and, of course, enough personality and intrigue to keep the world interested.
Ruben Montez and Zach Knight comprise one-half of this infallible formula. Ruben, the musical-theater–obsessed son of wealthy Spanish immigrants, tones down his energy and his incredible voice on stage to fit the cookie-cutter image of ordinary boy next door. Zach, a White boy from Oregon, is a leather-clad rebel in front of the cameras and a devoted and thoughtful son to his single mother behind them. As they embark on their first international tour, these four 18-year-olds—Ruben, Zach, and band mates Angel Phan (cued as Vietnamese American) and Jon Braxton (who has a Black mom and a White dad who is Saturday’s band manager)—wrestle with the expectations of their fans, their management team, their grueling touring schedule, their parents, and, most of all, their own bounding, leaping hearts. In this unexpectedly poignant love story, the glamorous facade of stardom is peeled away to reveal the human cogs of the great pop-culture machine. While often comfortably formulaic, the story subverts expectations in refreshing ways: Family conflict stems from causes other than bigotry, mental health struggles are acknowledged and destigmatized, and, pleasingly, in this story about the pitfalls of boy-band fame, teenage girls aren’t the villains.
A lively novel with as much appeal as the band itself. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-80580-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Thought-provoking though not subtle.
A viral duet causes discord for two promising musicians in See’s debut.
Italian American New York City teen Daisy Abano just wants to be seen as “a skilled disabled violinist,” not a charity case. But people can’t see past her cerebral palsy. The school bully calls her “Differently Abled,” and her church’s congregation prays for her to be cured. Daisy’s working-class parents, busy with their jobs and caring for her little sister, hardly see her at all. Getting accepted to Juilliard would prove her skill, and a class duet project is the perfect way to showcase her abilities. She’s paired with wealthy cello prodigy Noah Moray, whose father emigrated from Scotland. The pressure of measuring up to his equally musically talented family members exacerbates Noah’s anxiety, but he can’t bear to disappoint them. As they rehearse, Daisy and Noah find themselves falling in love, culminating in a performance—and a kiss—that goes viral. But their newfound fame exposes Daisy to even worse ableism and exploitation, and Noah discovers he is out of his depth. Daisy’s and Noah’s alternating narratives candidly explore such issues as emotional neglect and class privilege. The author, herself disabled, portrays the media’s often patronizing depictions of disabled people with realism that is uncomfortable in its pointed accuracy. Though the dialogue is occasionally heavy-handed, Daisy’s self-assurance is refreshing, and Noah’s therapy sessions offer insights on allyship.
Thought-provoking though not subtle. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-79029-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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