THE GIRL WHO BECAME A BEATLE

This high-concept, wish-gone-awry modern fairy tale concerns an aspiring 16-year-old musician whose band, the Caverns, is splitting up. Devastated by her bandmates’ desertion, the everygirl protagonist Regina wishes that she could be as famous as her musical lodestar, the Beatles. Her wish does come true, but with a twist: The Beatles have been obliterated from history, and the Caverns have replaced them song by song. Regina still has problems with her family and bandmates, but she’s now the composer of the Beatles songbook and a famous rocker. She soon learns that she has a choice—to live in this fake fairy-tale world forever or return to her quotidian life. Told in fractured–fairy-tale mode but without that genre’s lighter-than-air charm, the story skims the surface rather than attacking the deeper and more interesting ethical and intellectual dilemmas her situation raises. Similarly, a subplot with Regina’s mother has the potential for emotional complexity and punch but remains largely unmined. Strong premise—a frothy fantasy with an enjoyable backstage peek—but disappointingly uninvolving. (Fantasy. 11-15)