SONGS FOR A TEENAGE NOMAD

Calle is attending her 12th school in eight years due to her mother’s history of picking bad boyfriends. Though she tries to keep herself separated from her peers, she ends up friendly with her new school’s drama kids. She also attracts the attention of a hot-yet-moody jock named Sam. Things are looking up in Calle’s social department, but at home she finds a three-year-old letter from her father, hidden by her mother, that leads to her mother’s revelation of why they really move around so much. At the same time, Sam is running hot and cold because he has secrets of his own. Amateur, mawkish writing does nothing to help the book’s central problems of too many plots and one-dimensional characters. Too often, the voice comes across as melodramatic rather than emotionally mature, especially when Calle opens every chapter with a snippet of her memories. Though Calle credits herself as a songwriter, she appears to have no musical talent, nor do any of her songs ever come to light. Dull, even for die-hard music junkies. (Fiction. YA)