Jay Versus the Saxophone of Doom

Kootstra, Kara. Jay Versus the Saxophone of Doom. 2017. 182p. ISBN 978-0-670-06940-8. Available at FIC KOO on the library shelves.

One of the best hockey player in Parry Sound, Ontario, Jay Roberts lives and breathes the sport. His idol is Bobby Orr, who also grew up in Parry Sound. Jay proudly wears the #4 for his team, the Parry Sound Shamrocks. This year, he encounters a challenge he dimly expected but now must face full on. In music class, he gets an instrument, and he will be expected to perform in front of his entire class. If Jay doesn’t want to repeat 6th grade, he must quickly learn how to play an instrument.

Unfortunately for him, instruments are assigned in alphabetical order. By the time his music teacher gets to him, he gets stuck with the saxophone, this strange instrument that must be assembled every time. To say that Jay has no ear or rhythm for music is an understatement. Instead of cradling a saxophone, Jay would rather hold a hockey stick and push a puck forward.

Though one of the best players on his team, Jay’s often bullied by Mick Bartlet, a classmate who’s bigger and meaner. Avoiding Mick can be done at school, but it’s harder on the ice. With the saxophone now present in his life, Jay is not sure which one is worse: Mick or the sax? As the school year progresses, Jay will have to draw inspiration from his hero Bobby Orr and find a way to transform the saxophone in his clumsy hands into an instrument he can use to play passable music. What if learning how to play the saxophone was just like learning how to play hockey? On the ice or in the band room, Jay’s year is about to get challenging!

Going Bovine

Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. 2009. 480p. ISBN 978-0-375-89376-6, Available at FIC BRA on the library shelves and as an eBook on Overdrive.

During a trip to Disney World when he was 5, Cameron Smith jumped out of the It’s a Small World ride to join the land of the Innuit. At the time, he and his twin sister Jenna were best friends and did everything together. That trip was the highlight of Cameron’s life. Now at sixteen, Cameron is a loser. He’s failing school, he’s high at least once a week, he has a lame job at Buddha Burger, he doesn’t have a girlfriend and he has no prospects whatsoever, and his sister Jenna hates him. She’s one of the popular and smart kids at school.

His parents are concerned about him, but the only thing that lights Cameron up is the Great Tremolo, a Portuguese singer who uses a recorder. The music is so bad Cameron can’t get enough of it. When Cameron begins to see hallucinations, he first ascribes it to the drugs he’s doing, but soon the fire giants that haunt him feel more real. A series of medical tests later, Cameron is discovered suffering from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, otherwise known as mad cow disease. Always fatal, Cameron now finds himself in a hospital bed with no hope.

That’s when Dulcie shows up. An angel he saw at Buddha Burger, Dulcie tells Cameron that he must leave the hospital and take a road trip to find Dr. X. Dr. X discovered how to travel to other realities, and he unwittingly unleashed the fire giants on this world. Only Dr. X can provide Cameron with a cure. Accompanied with Gonzo, a high school acquaintance who occupied the hospital bed next to him, Cameron must now cross the United States looking for random events that seem out of place. Chased by men of the United Snow Globe Corporation, Cameron and Gonzo will rescue a Nordic god named Balder currently caught in the body of a lawn gnome, discover great music, find religion, meet the love of their lives (at least, they think), all the while with the fire giants and the Wizard pursuing them. Can Cameron find Dr. X before it’s too late?

A humorous and sometimes confusing book, Cameron never seems to know whether he is still hallucinating in the hospital or whether he is in fact traveling on the road. Fans of King Dork will appreciate the musical references and the contemporary language Cameron uses to explain away his mediocrity and his disease.

The Musician’s Daughter

Dunlap, Susanne. The Musician’s Daughter. 2009. 322p. ISBN 978-1-59990-332-3. Available at FIC DUN on the library shelves.

Theresa Maria is lucky to have a musician father who works for a Prince. Finding employment in 18th-century Vienna is hard enough, but for a musician it’s almost impossible. Having Prince Nicholas Esterhazy as a patron is a good thing for the family, as it keeps them fed and sheltered. A musician in her own right, Theresa aspires to join an orchestra but she knows her gender stands in the way of being able to secure such a position.

When her father is found assassinated near a gypsy camp and his priceless violin missing, Theresa’s world comes crashing down around her. Who would want to kill a court musician? Armed with the only clue she has, a mysterious gold pendant found around her father’s neck, Theresa decides she will investigate. Finding employment as a copyist for her father’s teacher, renowned composer Franz Joseph Haydn, Theresa discovers a plot involving blackmail and extortion and the local gypsy tribe. With the help of Zoltan, a dashing gypsy, Theresa hopes to find the murderer. But the issues that motivated her father’s death are still very much in play, and her life at risk.

The Musician’s Daughter is an excellent historical novel taking place in the best magical capital in the world, Vienna. Fans of history will appreciate the look at a society rapidly evolving and will appreciate Theresa’s hopes of escaping a marriage she does not want and finding out why her father was killed.

Falling Over Sideways

Sonnenblick, Jordan. Falling Over Sideways. 2016. 257p. ISBN 978-0-545-86324-7. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

An 8th grader in middle school, Claire’s life has not been easy. Her friends have graduated dance class and are now practicing with the high schoolers, while Claire remain stuck with the training bra crowd. Her brother Matthew, a junior in high school, is smart, dedicated and the clear favorite sibling in their household. She’s picked on at school, and even a once good friend, Ryder, is now her number one enemy, rubbing in when he makes the saxophone first chair and she only makes second.

But when Claire is the only person in the room when her father suffers a devastating heart attack, her life suddenly does a 180. She saved her father, and now she’s holding the family together. Her brother Matthew can’t handle the pressure and is starting to crumble in school. Her mother is convinced Claire’s father will get better and seems in complete denial. Dance, band, and school suddenly lose their urgency. And everyone who looks at Claire now see a different girl.

Claire doesn’t want any of this, however. She wants to return to the life she had before, when she was looking forward to her father joining her for the father daughter dance at her music studio. She wants a quiet 2nd chair band experience. She wants her friends back. But just like her father must work hard to regain some of his former strength, so must Claire. Can she survive being the hero?

P.S.: I Like You

West, Kasie. P.S.: I Like You. 2016. 329p. 6 hours 56 minutes long. ISBN 978-0-545-85097-1. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Lily stands out at her high school, and not for the better. Now a junior, her nemesis Cade gave her the nickname “Magnet” back in middle school, and it has stuck ever since. Cade is conceited, thinks he’s the most beautiful boy in the school, and bestows nicknames and insults to everyone that crosses his path. Her inability to catch a basketball was so funny to her classmates that they all kept passing her the ball, hence the nickname Magnet. Lily has never forgiven Cade, and when he dated her best friend Isabelle she did everything she could to undermine the relationship.

Lily wants to become a songwriter. She’s always writing lyrics and accompanying her songs on her trusted guitar. She’s not ready to share any of them, however, not even with Isabelle. Her home life is frantic and loud, with two younger brothers. She also has to share a bedroom with Ashley, her older sister who attends community college but stays at home. Her parents do their best, but there’s never peace at home.

During a moment of inattention in Chemistry, her teacher catches her writing away, and he tells her that from now on she cannot have her trusted green book in front of her. In her despair later on that week, she writes a song lyric on her desk. To her surprise, when she sits back down at her desk she discovers that someone completed the lyric. Soon, she’s exchanging old fashioned letters with an unknown male correspondent. With Chemistry classes taking place all day, it could be anyone. That guy is sensitive, with a distant father and a demanding stepfather. They share the same musical tastes, and they expose each other to new bands.

But when she discovers that Cade is her secret penpal, everything changes. How can the boy she’s falling in love with be the jerk that makes her life hell? Can Lily reconcile Cade’s two dramatically opposed persona into a person she can truly love and who will love her back?

King Dork

Portman, Frank. King Dork. 2006. 344p. ISBN 0-385-73291-0. Available at FIC POR on the library shelves.

Sophomore Tom Henderson refers to himself as King Dork, the dorkiest person at his school. For the last several years, Tom has had a hard life. His father, who worked for the police department, died in a hit and run years ago. His mother never recovered, and even though she remarried (to a man named Tom), she’s not very present in her children’s life. His little sister Amanda hates Tom (the new husband, nor her brother, although that is still up for debate). Tom doesn’t have many friends, and he spends most of his time with Sam Hellerman, a fellow dork. The two of them have been talking about forming a band for years, but they don’t have instruments so that’s a problem.

They are picked on at school, both by the hateful girls and the depraved jocks as well as by Mr. Teone, the assistant principal responsible for freshmen and sophomores. Tom and Sam do not have girlfriends, and are unlikely to ever find any. In brief, their lives are the stereotypical maladjusted teenager suffering from angst and a propensity for prescription medication (in Sam’s case). So, the beginning of their sophomore year is guaranteed to be terrible, with books like Siddhartha. And it is, when for the second year in a row they are assigned The Catcher in the Rye to read. Tom really hates the Catcher in the Rye, not necessarily because of the story but because all of the adults consider it a rite of passage and apparently have drunk the Holden Caulfield kool-aid.

But when Tom discovers his father’s book collection, everything changes. There are several notes, underlined passages, and secret codes that seem to indicate that his father and a character named Tit, were involved in something big. Was his father actually murdered? Did he commit suicide? Who is Tit? Tom will take steps to investigate this mystery but by doing so will find himself hopelessly entangled with the Hillmont High School community. Who knows, he might even get a girlfriend out of this terrible year.

Fans of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl will thoroughly enjoy Tom’s outlook on life and the coarse language and vulgar thoughts that populate his mind. This book doesn’t mince words but is also hilariously funny. Want to experience rock and roll, teen angst and sex, and discover a mystery at the same time? King Dork is the book for you.

Kill the Boy Band

Moldavsky, Goldy. Kill the Boy Band. 2016. 320p. ISBN 9780545867474. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

The Ruperts are the newest British boy band, a sensation so powerful teenage girls all over the world are in love. Originally participants in a reality television show demonstrating their talents, the members of the band were put together by a marketing team due to their endorsement by the public, and by the catchy fact that their first names are all Rupert. The four of them have been driving their fans wild with pop songs, and their social media presence and public appearances are endlessly analyzed.

Told in the first person, the narrator, a teenage girl about to turn 16, never identifies herself throughout the novel, so we will call her X. X has social anxiety, and would rather spend time online with virtual friends than take the time to make real connections. However, she did meet Erin when they started 9th grade, and, as another fan of the Ruperts, hit it off immediately. They connected with two other girls online. Apple, who is adopted from China and whose parents love her so much they’re willing to let her do whatever she wants, and Isabelle, who has an acerbic personality and who publishes one of the most popular blog about the Ruperts.

When the Ruperts announce they will be performing a concert in New York City during Thanksgiving, the girls are completely beside themselves. The show sold out so fast they were unable to get tickets, but that won’t stop them. Their plan? They will book a room at the swanky hotel where the Ruperts are staying, so that unlike the fans who will wait outside hoping for a glimpse of the wonder boys, they will be in the hotel and that much closer to the objects of their affections.

But all of this is background knowledge the reader gains as pages are turned, for the novel starts in the hotel room where something has gone wrong. Apple, on her way to the ice machine, encountered Rupert Pierpont, body slammed him unconscious (Apple is, after all about 5 feet 2 and over 260 pounds), and dragged his body back to their room. When Rupert P comes about, he finds himself tied to a chair in the hotel suite of four teenage fans.

The girls don’t quite know what to do with Rupert P. Sure, he’s a member of the Ruperts, but he’s the ugliest and least talented of the four. Honestly, if they were going to kidnap a member of the band, wouldn’t they have been better off with one of the others? Rupert P. is Apple’s favorite, however, so she has trouble controlling herself. X, for her part, really wants nothing to do with this kidnapping, but unfortunately she’s already involved, as Erin reminds her. Plus, they have his room key, his cellphone, and the secrets they contain.

With such an opportunity at their fingertips, what else would diehard fans do but take it? Each girl has an agenda, however, and all is not well in the Ruperts universe. The decisions the girls will make are about to change the boy band forever.

My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar

Patterson, James and Lisa Papademetriou. My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar. Book 3 of the Middle School series. 2013. 304p. ISBN 0316207543. Available at FIC PAT on the library shelves.

It’s the beginning of 6th grade, and Georgia Khatchadorian expects to excel at her new school, Hills Village Middle School. Unfortunately for her, her brother Rafe once attended HVMS and left such a legacy of pranks and rule violations that the last name Khatchadorian has become toxic. On her first day of school she meets the school bullies in the form of Missy, the school princess, and her flunkies; she runs into the loudest person ever, Rhonda, who attaches herself to Georgia; she gets a detention for eating in the courtyard; and she meets Sam, a cute boy.

Now that she’s here, no one gives her any opportunity to prove that she’s not as bad as her brother. So she makes a bet with him. She will make friends and become one of the popular girls, proving that the Khatchadorian name is not as toxic as everyone thinks.

What follows is a hilarious look at Georgia’s first few months of school, from the big dance and battle of the bands her brother signed her up for to nasty interactions with the bullies. But through it all Georgia will learn and grow to become her own person. Beautifully illustrate with funny cartoons that add information to Georgia’s narrative, this book will appeal to everyone’s funny bone. Fans of Andrew Smith’s Grasshopper Jungle and Winger, or those who enjoyed Jesse Andrews’ Me, Earl and the Dying Girl will love Georgia’s tale.

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

Anderson, M.T. Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad. 2015. 456p. ISBN 9780763668181. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

The most successful Russian composer of the 20th century, Dmitri Shostakovich found himself at the center of three momentous events in Russian history. He was a young child in St. Petersburg when the October Revolution dethroned the Tsar and eventually enshrined Lenin and the Communist Party. He continued living in renamed Leningrad through the Soviet purges of the late 1920s and the Great Terror of Stalin in the 1930s. He wrote his first symphony at the age of 18, and kept on writing music for the rest of his life. Living in a totalitarian state, Shostakovich had to be very guarded and careful in what he wrote, and several times his music was judged as reactionary, an accusation passable with death. He came close numerous times to being arrested or executed by the regime, but managed to escape through luck or the intervention of others.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany in 1941, Shostakovich and 2.5 million other people were surrounded in Leningrad. The longest siege in history, the city of Leningrad was cut off on all sides by attacking German and Finnish armies, and, especially through the first winter, hundred of thousands died of hunger or fell under the relentless rain of bombs and artillery shells. Considered one of the prominent composers, Shostakovich was eventually evacuated with his immediate family and the rest of the Leningrad Conservatory towards safety east of the Urals. There, he completed his 7th Symphony, which he had begun writing in Leningrad.

What became known as the Leningrad Symphony was eventually played around the world, and premiered in Leningrad itself on August 9, 1943, still under siege. One of the most inspirational piece of music ever written, it gave the population hope that they would triumph over the German invaders.

This book is thus the story of Shostakovich and of his Seventh Symphony. But it is so much more than that. It is the story of an enduring people under incredible hardship and violence. It is the story of hope in the face of overwhelming odds. And it is the story of music’s power to motivate and celebrate life.

Interviews with M. T. Anderson

 

The History of Rock

Rosen, Steven. The History of Rock. 2009. 32p. ISBN 978-0-7787-3823-7. Available at 781.66 ROS on the library shelves.

Rock and roll music evolved out of country music and blues music as the young adults who grew up at the end of the Second World War began to hunt for a sound all of their own. The mixing of these two types of music, combined with the use of electric guitars and bass allowed Bill Haley and His Comets to record (We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll song.

Over the next decades, rock and roll adapted to a new generation of young people, first giving us Elvis and his gyrations then the Beatles and the Rolling Stones before morphing into a fight against the system with punk and grunge. Metal bands appeared, singing about love, and post grunge era bands sang about social problems.

This short book is a concise history of rock and roll, and clearly explains the changes in society that affected the music played. Fans of music will enjoy this short introduciton.

Chopsticks: A Novel

Anthony, Jessica and Rodrigo Corral. Chopsticks: A Novel. 2012. 272p. ISBN 978-1-59514-435-5. Available at FIC ANT on the library shelves.

Raised as a piano prodigy by her single father, Gloria has travelled the world playing in the most prestigious concert halls. A rigorous schedule and her father’s overbearing presence has caused her to disappear. The story begins with Gloria’s disappearance and traces back her life over the last few years, when she meets Francisco and begins to question whether music should be all that there is in her life.

Told mainly in images, this is a fascinating way to tell a story without using words. Advertisements, excerpts from magazines, youtube videos, photos, drawings, all are used to convey the depth of Gloria and Francisco’s love.

If you enjoyed this book, you will like The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr, which is also about a musical prodigy and her constrained life.

Sinner

Stiefvater, Maggie. Sinner. 2014. 357p. ISBN 0545654572. FIC SIN on the library shelves.

At the end of Forever, Isabelle is sent by her family back to California. Mourning the loss of Cole, whom she saw shot in wolf form, she was thrilled to hear that he had survived the hunt. But now that months have gone by, she’s managed to move on. Living with her aunt and her cousin, Isabelle is soon joined by her mother, who separated from her father.

Cole St. Clair decides to go to California to be with Isabelle. Now that he can control his transformation, he is ready to rejoin the living. Signing a music deal with a reality-tv show, Cole will get to be the star he was, while producing a new album with no constraints. He gets to revive his star following his bouts of addiction and his brutal overdose at his band’s last show. But most of all, he wants Isabelle.

As the two reconnect, however, they are not able to look beyond their own feelings and their shattered history back in Mercy Falls. The death of Isabelle’s brother Jack, and of Cole’s drummer Victor, both wolves, haunt their dreams and color their decisions. Cole’s history of substance and alcohol abuse, his abrasive show personality, and his past relationships with women are hard for Isabelle to overlook.

Cole barrels through his reality show, all the while trying to convince Isabelle that he has reformed. Unfortunately, the show’s producer keeps on trapping Cole in events that may force him to lose control. And with the ugly divorce between her mother and her father and her hapless cousin, Isabelle has troubles of her own.

Can the two of them redeem their relationship, or is the wolf in Cole too much even for Isabelle?

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. 2008. 208p. ISBN  9781615579891. Available both as a book at FIC COH and as an eBook on Overdrive.

Nick had not gotten over being dumped by Trish, and he’s still in love with her. A bass player for a punk band, Nick is at the club one night and, following their performance, he heads to the bar. He notices Trish come in with her new boyfriend, and he decides that he doesn’t want her to see him alone. He bends down towards the girl next to him. She’s wearing a flannel shirt, in contrast to everyone else in the club, and he asks her if she can pretend to be his girlfriend for the next five minutes. Much to his surprise, she leans up and kisses him while Trish passes by.

Norah and Trish know each other and attended the same school for years. Norah’s never been a fan of Trish, and she feels like she’s known Nick for a long time. As the five minutes begin to stretch, they get to know each other and fumble along. They leave together to go see another show, and their attraction for each other only grows.

Both of them are conflicted. Nick is not over Trish yet, and keeps thinking of her. Norah is also getting over a bad breakup, and has issues of her own she deals with. Told from each perspective in alternating chapters, this first date grows into a relationship until the first rays of the sun signify a new day, and a new beginning for both of them.

Embedded in the text are multiple references to songs and artists that have graced the punk scene in the last 25 years. Romantic and relationship driven, this one night date demonstrates that two persons can grow and learn from each other and end up closer than when they started.

If I Stay

Forman, Gayle. If I Stay. 2009. 201p. ISBN 0525421033. FIC FOR on the library shelves.

Mia has always loved music. When she picked up the cello as a young child, her parents thought it was a phase. Punk rockers to the core, her parents exposed her to all kinds of music, but they never thought she would prefer classical. When it became clear that she really loved the cello, her parents provided her with tutors, but Mia quickly exceeded their skill levels. Now with a college professor, Mia has applied to Julliard, and she’s certain she got in.

Here lies the problem. Mia is in love with Adam, who’s in a band out here in Oregon, and his band has finally taken off. They have a recording deal, and they go on tour throughout the Northwest. Going to Julliard would mean leaving everything she loves, but the music, behind. It will be, however, the greatest opportunity she will have to improve her skills on the cello.

Facing this dilemma, Mia, her brother, and her parents get in the car one February morning and head out for a drive through the wonderful snow that fell overnight. Her parents’ car is crushed by a truck, and her parents are killed immediately. Mia walks out of the accident, but then discovers that her body is still laying in the cold snow, Beethoven still playing in the background.

Stuck between life and death, Mia can only observe her body and the reactions of people who surround her. Now the dilemma is simple. Should she fight to live, or is it okay for her to go?

If you liked this book, consider reading Thirteen Reasons Why, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, We Were Liars, Zoe Letting Go, Black Box, The Vanishing Season, or Kiss of Broken Glass. All of these books feature a tragedy and a voyage of self-discovery as the central element of the plot.

Liz Emerson, in Falling into Place, suffers a similar fate to Mia but she herself caused the accident on purpose, and her life is viewed in snapshots and recalled in moments dated before her wreck.