You're the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About by Daniel Herborn

Title: You're the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About
Author: Daniel Herborn

Release Date: 1st May 2015

Rating: 4/5

Blurb:
Tim’s a young singer-songwriter with a guitar case full of songs and dreams of finding an audience to embrace his tunes. 

Mandy’s obsessed with music and a compulsive dreamer. She’s longing for something more fulfilling than daytime TV and cups of tea with best friend Alice, something like the excitement and passion of rock ’n’ roll.

When their eyes meet at a gig, sparks fly across a crowded room and hope burns in their hearts.

But in a city of millions and a scene overrun with wannabes, can they ever get it together? Will Mandy’s nerves doom their romance before it even starts? And where does the darkness in Tim's songs come from?

This is a story of Sydney's Inner West, of first love, crush bands and mix tapes; of the thrill of the night and what happens when the music stops.

In A Nutshell:

A book about first love, friendship, finding your way, drinking tea, music, and all that music inspires.

My Review:

Mandy and Tim are eighteen year olds from the inner western suburbs of Sydney who meet expectantly at a gig one night. Both are hooked instantly but neither does much about it and leave without swapping so much as a phone number. An electrifying night fizzles with that all too familiar feeling of, “Why on earth didn’t I do something?!”

You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About features two of my favourite things: Boys who play guitar and live music gigs. AND it’s Aussie YA. So it had three big ticks before I even opened the first page. Living up to my high expectations, You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About didn’t disappoint.

When she isn’t working at a sandwich bar, Mandy spends her days watching daytime TV, having deferred university with the plan to travel before picking a major. In the evenings, more often than not, she and her best friend Alice can be found at local pubs on the lookout for musicians who can invigorate their love of music.

“Would it have made a difference? Or would I still be me, adrift in some other time, waiting for my life to begin, wondering when inspiration will strike?”

Tim is repeating year twelve and living with his uncle after events from the previous year contributed to his less than stellar results. The reader doesn’t know what happened (although there are very small hints throughout the book) until Tim reveals all to Mandy about 2/3 through. In his spare time, Tim writes and plays music, sometimes performing in competitions and solo shows in grungy pubs and bars, searching for the elusive crowd that actually cares about what he has to say within his music.

“I guess it seems weird to write a song about someone I don’t know, but that’s kind of what songs are: they’re secrets made public” 

Told in alternating chapters from Mandy and Tim’s perspectives, You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About is a story about having friends and people who support and believe in you even if they have no idea what they want to do either. Because life is a crazy mish-mash of thoughts, ideas and surprises and you never know what will happen next. 

“We might be an unlikely couple, but I’m starting to think that’s the best kind.”

There were so many sweet, tender and emotional moments mixed in with the confusion and frustrations of life and I certainly had my fair share of smiley, happy, reading moments. As much as I loved the characters of Mandy and Tim, I also really appreciated Alice, who comes as a “package deal” with Mandy, or as Tim describes her, “an added bonus”. On the outside Alice seems like she has it all together: at uni studying something she loves, working in a bookstore, attending gigs with her bestie, and rocking her own quirky style. But she too has things in her life to deal with and it made me so happy to see her light up during the absolutely adorableness of her interactions with Justin, a boy from uni (that is not to imply that all her problems magically disappear because of a boy – they are just really sweet moments and I like seeing her character smile).

“I unwrap the parcel and it’s a mixtape Tim has made for me. Cute boys making me mixtapes has always been my sad secret fantasy, the thing I’m too cool to admit I wanted.”

As you would expect, there are plenty of musical mentions throughout the book which no doubt are inspired by the author, Daniel Herborn’s, own love of music. I only knew of some of the artists/bands but it didn’t matter and it gave me a plethora of new music to investigate. 

You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About has a distinctive Australian feel to it. It’s a feeling, I think, to do with the writing style but I’ve never been able to put my finger on or articulate it. It’s not the fact that it is set in Australia, although that does have something to do with it, but it’s something more, an ‘essence’ or something that resonates with me. Like I said, I’ve never been able to figure it out but I’ve had the same strong feeling while reading a few select Aussie YA books, including Guitar Highway Rose, Swerve, Friday Brown and A Straight Line to My Heart. I love that You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About has joined this elusive, personal list.

“Not for the first time, I feel some stupid urge to write songs about her, to make people see her as I do.”

A book about first love, friendship, finding your way, drinking tea, music, and all that music inspires.

Try if you liked: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Graffiti Moon

Amplified by Tara Kelly

Title: Amplified

Author: Tara Kelly

Release Date: 25th October 2011

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb: 

When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it.

In A Nutshell:

Amplified was a quick, easy read and while predictable in parts, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked Jasmine. She's on a mission to follow her dreams and leave no regrets. The C-Side band members are a great mix and I love how they all just get lost in the music while playing. Music + cute boys = swoon. 

My Review:

Amplified was a quick, easy read and while predictable in parts, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of those lazy day comfort reads: Cute boy? Check. Introverted girl eager to prove herself? Check. Music themed? Check. Awesome share house where fun is to be had? Check.

Jasmine is rather shy and introverted, a girl essentially brought up by nannies and although her father has always provided for her, it’s never been in the kind of loving, understanding manner that Jasmine needed. To him, life is about success and creating a future and while Jasmine has played the perfect daughter and student, even getting into Stanford, the future she wants to create doesn’t quite match up to the one her father has envisioned.

Amplified is about taking a leap to follow your dreams, even if it means doing so without any support and with your only family telling you it is the biggest mistake of your life. Sometimes you have to believe in yourself, at least to know you have tried everything and have no regrets.

I loved the dynamic of the C-Side band members. The banter and teasing between over-the-top control freak Bryn, cool and quirky Felix, the loyal and dripping in sass Veta, and Sean, my new book crush, just made for an entertaining read. Throw in a secretive Jasmine and the drama levels in the band and the share house rise. For Jasmine, things become a little more complicated than they already are when she falls for Sean, who is currently coming out of an ugly breakup. His heavily tattooed ex-girlfriend takes an instant dislike to Jasmine and makes her difficult stage debut even harder than it could have been.

I would have liked there to be a little more about Veta and Bryn’s siblings, Zoe and Nick respectively, since they are introduced into the storyline. The same goes for Jason, Jasmine’s bestie. I have discovered there will be a sequel titled Encore to be release sometime in 2014 so maybe they’ll make an appearance.

I’m a big fan of music/band themed books so if you are too, maybe check out one of my favourites, Five Flavours of Dumb or the books tagged with 'music'.

Girl Defective by Simmone Howell

Title: Girl Defective
Author: Simmone Howell

Release Date: 1st March 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

We, the Martin family, were like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects. Dad was addicted to beer and bootlegs. Gully had "social difficulties" that manifested in his wearing a pig snout mask 24-7. I was surface clean but underneath a weird hormonal stew was simmering...

It's summer in St Kilda. Fifteen-year-old Sky is looking forward to great records and nefarious activities with Nancy, her older, wilder friend. Her brother – Super Agent Gully – is on a mission to unmask the degenerate who bricked the shop window. Bill the Patriarch seems content to drink while the shop slides into bankruptcy. A poster of a mysterious girl and her connection to Luke, the tragi-hot new employee sends Sky on an exploration into the dark heart of the suburb. Love is strange. Family Rules. In between there are teenage messes, rock star spawn, violent fangirls, creepy old guys and accidents waiting to happen. If the world truly is going to hell in a hand-basket then at least the soundtrack is kicking. Sky Martin is Girl Defective: funny, real and dark at the edges.

In A Nutshell:

Mysteries and music in Melbourne. Enough said.

My Review:

I think the mark of a good book is one where you keep thinking about it long after you have finished it. I read this ages ago and I still find my mind wandering back to it.

I really loved Girl Defective. In the interests of full disclosure, I didn’t think I would. I didn’t enjoy Everything Beautiful which everyone else seemed to, and so I didn’t have high hopes for Girl Defective. But, I liked the premise so I thought I would give it a go and I’m so glad I did. It just proves that you can’t judge an author on one book alone. Some stories will speak to you, some won’t. Girl Defective was un-put-down-able.

Sky Martin lives with her wannabe detective younger brother Gully and their record obsessed Dad above his beloved record store. Their mother, who went through a ‘bird faze’ naming them Seagull and Skylark, walked out on them three years ago to ‘find herself’. She now lives in Japan and works on her creative outlets, which currently involves performance art while covered in tampons.

At 15, Sky is a bit of a loner. She’s lost in the world, searching for her place and her own identity. She spends her days either at school in the computer lab vandalising her mother’s website, at the record store, watching over Gully who has taken to wearing a pig-snout mask and pretending to be a secret agent, and arguing with her dad who refuses to move with the times in order to save the store. Her only friend is 19-year-old Nancy who is a bit wild and carefree, somewhat unreliable and the complete opposite of Sky. But she makes Sky feel alive and Sky holds onto their unlikely friendship like a lifeline.  

“Sometimes I thought if it wasn’t for music I wouldn’t be able to cry or laugh or feel giddy or wild.” 

Set over the course of six weeks, the lives of the Martin family takes a little detour down the seedier streets of St Kilda as Gully tries to investigate who threw a brick through their shop window, Nancy becomes obsessed with rock star Otis, and Sky’s dad, Bill, hires new-comer Luke to help out at the store. While Sky is originally grumpy about Luke employment, she can’t help but be intrigued by him, watching him over the top of her Record Collector magazine. Luke is quiet and sad and we learn very early on that he is in town to try and piece together the last months of his sister’s life, a life that seems remarkably similar to Nancy’s.

With Luke searching for answers about Mia’s death, Sky becomes fascinated by the life that Mia appears to have led and does a little investigating of her own while pondering her feelings for both Nancy and Luke. Her character evolves through the story and by the end of it I was so proud and happy for her with the way things eventuated, with the risks she takes and the realisations she comes to.

I loved both Gully and Bill. Gully is eccentric and quirky and I love him to bits. I think it is implied he has Asperger’s but I’m not knowledgeable enough about the condition to say for sure. Bill’s dedication to records and his refusal to stock CDs or sell online, let alone stock anything released after 1995, is endearing, even if he is running his business into the ground.

Last but not least, I love mysteries and novels that incorporate music. The Martin family are music snobs but we love them anyway. I really enjoyed the music references, even if I only knew half the bands mentioned, but I could still appreciate the love and dedication they had towards their favourites. 

“I like watching people’s faces when they listen to music. I like how it’s private. Even at a gig if you’re all hearing the same thing, you’re really all hearing something different.”

Thank you to Macmillan for this review copy. 

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Title: Saving June
Author: Hannah Harrington

Release Date: 1st May 2011 (Aust). 22nd November 2011 (US)

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one - so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going - California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down - again.

In A Nutshell:
Saving June pretty much had me before I even opened the book. And once I started it, I was in love. As many of you know, I love road trip books. I also love books about music. And swoon-worthy guys and imperfect girls and crazy adventures. And polaroid photographs.... Hannah Harrington somehow managed to grab all my favourite things and put them in her debut novel.

Saving June will pull at your heart strings, make you laugh, cry, swoon and blush. It’s tender and breath taking, filled with love, loss, grief, uncertainty and forgiveness.

My Review: (longest review EVER. Sorry!)
Um, wow...

Saving June pretty much had me before I even opened the book. And once I started it, I was in love. As many of you know, I love road trip books. I also love books about music. And swoon-worthy guys and imperfect girls and crazy adventures. And polaroid photographs.... Hannah Harrington somehow managed to grab all my favourite things and put them in her debut novel.

Our three main characters, Harper, Laney and Jake are all quite distinct personalities and while they initially end up on the road trip by way of necessity and blackmail, the three of them survive and learn a few lessons in life.

Harper is easy to relate to, even if a bit clichéd. She's the younger sister who has never felt good enough, always living in her older sister's shadow. But what happens when said older sister is gone? And gone without an explanation? She can’t just slip into the role of the good, helpful daughter, she has her own grief to contend with. Everyone grieves in their own way and Harper's way is to pay homage to June's dreams, not to pretend like it was 'God's divine plan' and all pain will pass.

“As soon as I learned, early on in life, that I could never live up to June, I’d made it a point to be her polar opposite“…. “But I wasn’t interested in being like June, and I definitely didn’t want to live in June’s shadow. Even if mine was less impressive, at least it was my own.”

I love the friendship between Harper and Laney, both have quite distinct personalities but each complements the other. Laney takes everything in her stride, always knows what to say and has a sense of adventure. She has a penchant for vintage clothing, over-sharing and a fascination with movie stars who died young. Harper, however, is the kind of girl who won’t do something she doesn’t want to. She won’t take s*** from anyone and will stick up for what she believes in. She likes hoodies and black nail polish and isn't good with emotion. They are each other’s buffers and will always be there for the other.

Jake is annoying, sweet, opinionated, considerate, music obsessed and totally swoon-worthy. He may present the bad-boy image but he’s not all that he seems and I totally wish he would make ME a 'mixed CD'. The banter between he and Harper is so delicious and I love how he slowly manages to break down her tough exterior.

“At first my stomach twists, and I feel vaguely ashamed, or guilty, or something, for noticing that. But then I think –so what. So what if he’s hot, sometimes. Like every time I look at him. Besides, annoying he may be, but he’s had his shining White Knight Moment, what with the whole saving-me-and-my-best-friend-from-a-brawl-and-probable-jail-time thing. Even if I’m no damsel in distress and he’s miles away from Prince Charming, such displays of gallantry, combined with his not-bad-okay-actually-pretty good looks, make my strange lusty feelings completely justified. Practically obligatory, even.”

As Harper, Jake and Laney get closer to their final destination, they come across a few unexpected events along the way. They end up in the thick of a protest rally in Chicago, get sweaty in a punk mosh-pit, risk rattlesnakes while camping, chill out in a blues lounge in St. Louis, realise that refrigerators can make interesting art, discover Harper can throw a mean right-hook, get sexy with The Doors all while emotions are running high and personal secrets and insecurities come to light.

As I have mentioned, Jake is hugely music obsessed and it is a constant theme throughout the book. From bands such as The Rolling Stones and the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix, Hole, Ani DiFranco, Eric Clapton, The Kinks, The Doors, John Coltrane, Johnny Cash, The Beach Boys, ABBA and Bob Dylan, plus many, many more, classic rock and jazz are covered. All through the book I was thinking I would try and make a playlist of all the songs talked about and then to my delight, at the end of the book were three playlists. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

“And that’s what good music does. It speaks to you. It changes you.”

If you are a peanut butter fan, you probably won’t be able to eat it again without thinking of Jake and blushing. And I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Eric Clapton without swooning at the thought of page 219. And ‘Touch Me’ by The Doors without thinking of pages 298-304. And OMG the song at the end!!!

Saving June will pull at your heart strings, make you laugh, cry, swoon and blush. It’s tender and breath taking, filled with love, loss, grief, uncertainty and forgiveness. I constantly felt that I was sitting in the fourth car seat, next to Laney and totally wanted to jump in and add my own music commentary to Jake’s.

For fans of The Sky is Everywhere and Where She Went.

More Hannah Harrington? Yes please!

Second Opinions
inkcrush
Irresistible Reads

Also, Nic at Irresistible Reads has done a "My Book Boyfriend" post on Jake. Check it out for some yummy quotes and Jake inspired pics :)

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Title: Where She Went
Series: If I Stay Book 2
Author: Gayle Forman

Release Date: 1st April 2011

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life. And there years he's spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

What I thought of If I Stay:
"This is a beautiful and heart-wrenching story that is not only about love, but also about what makes a family, the meaning of friendship and the magic of music."

My Review:
I'm warning you now, this is going to be a long review because I absolutely loved everything about Where She Went. It picks up three years after Mia awoke from her coma in If I Stay and, unlike If I Stay, Where She Went is entirely from Adam's perspective.

Adam is in pain. After his band became the biggest thing in the music biz, thanks to the songs he wrote about the hurt and confusion he suffered after Mia left, Adam is hounded day and night by reporters and the paparazzi. Everyone wants to know the story behind the music, but Adam and the band aren't talking. Adam just wants to be left in peace. His love of music has dwindled and he floats through life with the aid of prescription drugs and cigarettes to calm his nerves and anxiety. He's lost all connection to everyone around him, including the band and always feels alone, even when he is surrounded by people.

I can't help but think about how, when I was younger, I'd read about the legions of artists who imploded - Morrison, Joplin, Cobain, Hendrix. They disgusted me. They got what they wanted and then what did they do? Drugged themselves to oblivion. Or shot their heads off. What a bunch of assholes.

Well, take a look at yourself now. You're no junkie but you're not much better.

Adam is heartbroken and I found it really interesting to experience this from a male's point of view, as most YA's I read where someone is suffering, is from a female perspective. Throughout the book, we are given the opportunity to see back before Mia's accident and see some of Adam's memories, but also what has been happening with him, and how Mia's accident changed his life, up until the point where we meet up with him in New York. I was really pleased to see Forman explore the effect the accident had on Adam because while what happened to Mia was terrible, people often forget or don't even notice the effect an accident can have on those around the victim.

Where She Went is an emotional roller-coaster ride for Adam and I really wanted him to burst out with his feelings of pain and abandonment to Mia as soon as he saw her, but of course then we wouldn't have a story or the anticipation of waiting to find out what was going through Mia's mind when she left. When she does finally relinquish her reasons, everything comes crashing down around Adam and he has to face some truths he has tried to forget. Quite often I found I had a lump in my throat and towards the end I really had to stop myself from letting some tears leak out.

Mia's words rattle something loose in me and suddenly there are tears all over my damn face again. I haven't cried in three years and now this is like the second time in as many days.

"It's my turn to see you through," she whispers, coming back to me and wrapping me in her blanket as I lose my shit all over again. She holds me until I recover my Y chromosome.

I am totally and completely in love. Not only with this masterpiece of a sequel that Gayle Forman has written but also with Adam; oh how I fall for musicians! And yay for young adult novels with older protagonists (Adam and Mia are now twenty-one). Forman has also spoiled us by including lyrics from Adam's songs at the beginning of each chapter. Where She Went surpasses the brilliance of If I Stay, has a place on my all-time favourites list, and is my current favourite contemporary book of the year.

On a personal note, I love that now, having visited America, I get so much more out of a book as my own experiences help enrich the story. When Adam and Mia wander through New York and different places are mentioned, my own memories of those places come flowing back. I love reading books that are set in cities I have visited. I had the same gushy feelings when I read Anna and the French Kiss.

****SPOILER ALERT****
What I say next basically tells you what happens at the end of Where She Went so do not read any further if you don't want the ending spoiled!
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I would love to read another book in the life of Adam and Mia and have it called 'What We Did' but I have a feeling Gayle Forman has finished writing Adam and Mia's story. *sigh*

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen

Release Date: 2nd July 2007

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
I'm Annabel. I'm the girl who has it all.Model looks, confidence, a great social life.I'm one of the lucky ones. Aren't I?

My Review:
This is the second time I have re-read Just Listen and I still love it as much as when I first read it a few years ago. I've read a couple of other Dessen books but I didn't connect with them as much as I did with Just Listen.

Annabel used to be the girl everyone envied, until something happened at the beginning of the summer. Her best friend stopped talking to her and now slanders her every chance she gets. Annabel spent the summer in solitude, hoping that once school started again, everything would go back to normal. No such luck. What happened is one of the many secrets that unfolds throughout Just Listen.

Annabel is the kind of person who holds everything in to protect others. She hides her own wants and feelings to protect her broken family. She holds back her desire to quit modelling to protect her mother who once again shows signs of life after having a breakdown. She holds back how she feels towards her sisters and the position she has in the family. She hides what is really going on at school. And she definitely hides what happened at the beginning of the summer. She is on an emotional roller-coaster and what she doesn't realise, is that sometimes, she just has to open up and let others help her, before everything explodes.

Just Listen is not solely about Annabel. While she is the main character, the troubles of the rest of her family and those around her are also heavily highlighted. And each character is amazing, with so much depth, pain, fear, love, confidence and hopelessness.

Kirsten and Whitney are Annabel's two older sisters and I love their complex relationship. Whitney struggles with an eating disorder but Kirsten is the only one in the family that can see what is really happening behind Whitney's lies. One of the most powerful moments in the book, to me, is when Kirsten tells her family that she has warned them but they are choosing not to listen to her. As Whitney's eating disorder really comes to light in one shocking scene with Annabel, everything she has tried to keep hidden is uncovered and we slowly become witness to all of her internal battles.

There are many influential scenes featuring Whitney. Some that stick in my mind include Whitney's concentration as she tends to her herbs, Annabel spying Whitney watching her model from afar and, when Whitney takes part in the open-mike night. It never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Kirsten, the biggest drama queen of all, actually turns out to have her life sorted out the most. You will find that in the book, Kirsten makes a short film about a memory she has. I love that everyone who views it takes something different from it, that is the way art should be, but that it also helps mend Whitney and Kirsten's fragile relationship.

Owen is an outsider. And we all know what happens when the dark and mysterious outsider meets the messed up beautiful girl. I love Owen and his crazy obsession with music. He is so sweet and honest. He believes in honesty above anything else, except music. He introduces Annabel to his "placeholder" way of thinking and teaches her that bad choices and dishonesty can haunt you if you don't do something about them. He is absolutely one of my literary crushes. And his best mate Rolly is like a faithful puppy dog and totally loveable.

"silence is so freaking loud"

Just Listen really gets down to the core of how appearances can be deceiving. I love the symbolism of the family home being made of glass and that what is seen through the glass is very different to the words spoken, and not spoken, on the other side. No one's life is perfect and the myth that someone could have it all is just that, a myth. Sarah Dessen does well to point that out to her readers, that people and families are not always as they seem.

Also, I loved the car wash scene and it really resonated with me. The first time I went in a car wash when I was little, I thought it was scary but I always felt safe because my parents were with me. Even though I thought it was scary, I loved the darkness and the sight of the water and soap suds running down the windows and the sound of the brushes hitting the sides of the car. Just like our characters, I now view them as a magical, relaxing place and I love to sit in the dark while the water swirls around outside.

A fantastic read that deals with real life issues such as friendship, family life, relationships, eating disorders, sexual assault and personal discovery.

Oh boy, I want to read it again *sigh*

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Title: Five Flavors of Dumb
Author: Antony John

Release Date: 1st November 2010 (US Only)

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Eighteen-year-old Piper has got herself into a mess. Because of her big mouth, she has one month to get a paying gig for her high school's hottest new rock band, Dumb. In Piper's mind, the band couldn't have a more perfect name. Just look at the members: one egomaniacal pretty boy, one silent rocker, one talent-less piece of eye-candy, one angry girl, and one nerd-boy drummer - five discordant personalities who, when put together, seem ready to self-destruct at any moment. Getting them an actual gig seems impossible. Add to that the fact that Piper doesn't know if their music is good or not, because, well, she's deaf.

But Piper is determined to get the band a gig to show her classmates that being deaf doesn't mean she's invisible. And as she gets to know the five flavors of Dumb, some hidden talents, secret crushes, and crazy rock music emerge. She doesn't need to hear the music to sell it, but Piper wants the chance to feel the music too. Does she have what it takes to manage Dumb and discover her own inner rock star?

My Review:
I apologise in advance for the length of this review. There was just so much to comment on! Five Flavors of Dumb is brilliant. I can't fault it. I fell for it before I even started reading chapter one when I found lyrics from one of my favourite Oasis songs at the front.

"Please don't put your life in the hands
Of a rock 'n' roll band Who'll throw it all away "
Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis

The love certainly didn't stop there, every few paragraphs I had to stop reading so I could write down a quote I liked. After the first few chapters, I decided I was disrupting the narrative flow, and so stopped writing them down. While I can't write them all down, the beginning of chapter two is a hilarious paragraph on the high school social structure.
I felt very connected to Piper throughout the book. I went through so many different emotions. I laughed, I cried, and I certainly felt Piper's frustration and anger. I felt so proud of her when she let loose in the heat of the moment and told her family how she felt after keeping it bottled inside for so long. And what she accomplishes when she actually stops being a wall-flower is awesome. As she discovers strengths she never knew she had as her self esteem soars, Piper emerges from her shell, stands up for herself and those around her, and learns how to play dirty in the big bad world of band managers.

"Suck-i-ness [suhk-ee-nis] - noun
Realising you're completely alone...even in a crowd"

One of my favourite characters is Finn, Piper's 14-year-old brother who sits quietly in the background trying to hold their dysfunctional family together. He is such a sweetie and one of his lines put a major lump in my throat. Obviously it needs to be read in the context to get the full meaning behind it but here is a little taste...

"I've done everything I can. Other kids learned Spanish or French, but not me. I'm fluent in American Sign Language, and I did it for you. Not for Oma and Poppy. I did it so that I could talk to you, because you're my sister."

Along with her feelings of loneliness (being the only deaf family member and student isn't easy), the psychological pain Piper feels from her parents is probably the most crushing; they often ignore her opinions, dismiss her needs and make light of her aspirations. I could feel the hurt and it made me cry.

Piper and her father have a difficult relationship and Piper believes this is due to how mortified he is by her deafness. Looking at it from Piper's point of view, he never even bothered to learn how to sign, her preferred way of communication. For me this was the most heart-breaking part of the whole story. Throughout the book though, we come to see a better side of her father as Piper and Finn discover things about him they never knew and Piper begins to rebuild the relationship she once had with her father (before she lost her hearing at age six).

A very quick comment on the members of Dumb...a great collection of random personalities that definitely add to the flavour of Dumb. But as always, appearances can be deceiving.

"Josh Cooke on vocals, his mouth moving preternaturally fast and hips gyrating as if a gerbil had gained unauthorised access to his crotch"

Antony John has created a unique story about music, family, standing up for yourself and proving to those who doubt you, that you can do anything you set your mind to. Also, major shout out to Kristen Smith who designed an absolutely stunning cover, one of the best I have ever seen and what made me pick up the book in the first place.

A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

Title: A Little Wanting Song (also published under Chasing Charlie Duskin)
Author: Cath Crowley

Release Date: 1st April 2005

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Charlie Duskin loves music, and she knows she’s good at it. But she only sings when she’s alone, on the moonlit porch or in the back room at Old Gus’s Secondhand Record Store. Charlie’s mom and grandmother have both died, and this summer she’s visiting her grandpa in the country, surrounded by ghosts and serving burgers to the local kids at the milk bar. She’s got her iPod, her guitar, and all her recording equipment, but she wants more: A friend. A dad who notices her. The chance to show Dave Robbie that she’s not entirely unspectacular.

Rose Butler lives next door to Charlie’s grandfather and spends her days watching cars pass on the freeway and hanging out with her troublemaker boyfriend. She loves Luke, but can’t wait to leave their small country town. And she’s figured out a way: She’s won a scholarship to a science school in the city, and now she has to convince her parents to let her go. This is where Charlie comes in. Charlie, who lives in the city, and whom Rose has ignored for years. Charlie, who just might be Rose’s ticket out.

My Review:

What can I say except WOW. I was completely absorbed from the first page (well actually the quotes on the back got me first) and read it in one sitting. Cath Crowleys' words flow so well, they are like a warm blanket wrapped around you in the middle of winter. They are comfort. This is a funny, beautifully written novel that will leave you desperate for anything else this fantastic author has written.

"There was this beat under my skin, a little disco weaving through me. That's how it is when I'm alone and playing the guitar, but that's never how it is in a crowd."

Rose and Charlie are both wonderful, real characters. They have hopes, fears and big hearts but their personalities are very different. Rose is trying not to suffocate in the small town she has grown up in and she will do anything to escape. Half the time she is rebelling, the other half she is the perfect student.

Charlie is a quiet, music-loving girl who is yet to come out of her shell. All she needs is a little confidence and friends who won't laugh at and ignore her. Her father no longer notices her and is a shadow of his former self. She talks to both her mother and grandmother in her head, taking advice from those she knows loved her. She spends her time writing songs and playing her guitar for no one but herself, scared of the rejection that she is sure will follow. As an added bonus for us readers, Crowley includes the lyrics that Charlie writes throughout the book.

Charlie and Rose's friendship develops slowly but is one where each girl realises the other is not how they always perceived them and they find they have someone they can really talk to.

Charlie's relationship with Dave should also be mentioned. For years, both watched the other from afar. Dave is caring and loyal and he never shared the same views towards Charlie that Rose and Luke had. This summer, they actually make small, embarrassed efforts towards asking the other out and they really are so sweet together. It's really cute watching them dance around each other until one of them actually finds some courage.

Go and find this book. Now.

Graffiti Moon is Cath Crowley's latest release and you can read my review here. It, of course, rocks. :)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Authors: David Levithan and John Green

Release Date: 3rd May 2010 (Australia)

My Rating: 5/5

Will Grayson: What is your oldest, wildest, only best friend started writing a musical about your life...and it made you look like a joke? What if the girl you didn't think you were interested in started being interested in you? And who is this other guy called Will Grayson?

The other Will Grayson: What if you are technically depressed? What if you're in love with someone you've never met? And what's the story with the guy walking around with your name?

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens - both named Will Grayson - are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

I really can't put my finger on what it is that makes me love this book so much. I am a major fan of both David Levithan and John Green and was so excited when I heard they had done a book together. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is laugh-out-loud hilarious, heart-warming and at times heart-breaking, but also absolutely fabulous! I felt like I could really relate to Will Grayson, the first one, and I'm sure everyone will be able to relate to one of the amazing characters in this book in someway.

I have two favourite sentences, the first being in the very first paragraph of the book which I think sets the tone and the hilarity of the rest of the chapter and the book:

When I was little, my dad used to tell me. 'Will, you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.'

My other favourite sentence, because I can relate to it all too much, is:

You like someone who can't like you back because unrequited love can be survived in a way that once requited love cannot.

Do yourself a favour and read this book. It's fantastic.