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32 pp.
| Penguin/Paulsen
| May, 2018
|
TradeISBN 978-1-5247-4062-7$17.99
(4)
K-3
A mohawked kid who plays the drums likes standing out, but there's a hitch: "Sometimes it feels like something is missing." It's an easy fix: meet three kids and form a band so they're "one of a kind together." The book is similar to many punk songs: fleet, on the nose, and, with its black-and-white art with yellow and pink accents, a little monotonous.
(4)
YA
Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. Lili remembers her seventeenth year playing bass in a band with her boyfriend and falling in love with another bandmate involved with the dangerous Irish Republican Army. The memoir-like narrative uses insider details to bring 1976 London's nascent punk scene to life. Readers looking for an empowering story about a female bass player will be disappointed with the book's shallow (and few) female characters.
(3)
YA
Just as he's getting his punk band up to speed, Appalachian seventeen-year-old Rob is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that threatens to extinguish all his dreams. Bouncing back and forth between his illness, his band, and the usual teen concerns (dating, drug use among his friends), this dramatic memoir of teen illness and angst writ large hits all the right notes.
40 pp.
| HarperCollins/Harper
| February, 2016
|
TradeISBN 978-0-06-236396-1$17.99
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Stephen Shaskan.
After skunk friends and bandmates Kit and Buzz fight over what to sing, they cease to rock together and are miserable. The novelty of punk-rock-playing skunks in a kids' book is undercut by the workmanlike plotting and too-easy resolution. The cartoonish digital art--featuring punky skunks sporting combat boots, leather jackets, and neon-striped Mohawks--plays up the genre's cheesiness.
(3)
YA
This equally compelling sequel to The Scar Boys uses an interview format to develop the characters; the bandmates look back on their glory days in the eighties when they tried to make sense of Johnny's accident and amputation, Cheyenne's pregnancy, and the complicated tangle of relationships that made the music come alive but nearly ripped the band apart.
282 pp.
| Abrams/Amulet
| May, 2015
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4197-1495-5$16.95
(3)
YA
Punk teen Noah believes that the David Bowie lookalike named Ziggy he met in an alley can help him understand why girls are going missing and what's wrong with his very sick best friend, Evan. Going Bovine meets Me and Earl and the Dying Girl in this riveting exploration of friendship and illness set against the crisply rendered backdrop of 1980s Portland, Oregon.
325 pp.
| HarperTeen
| February, 2015
|
TradeISBN 978-0-06-227923-1$17.99
(3)
YA
After her parents separate and her mother overdoses on pills, wealthy high-achiever Juliet begins to see the flaws in a life she thought was perfect, and she starts to change her once-predictable behavior. Though a love triangle is among the conflicts, the novel wisely widens its focus to acknowledge the importance of other elements in Juliet's life.
32 pp.
| Smart Apple
| August, 2013
|
LibraryISBN 978-1-59920-968-5$28.50
(4)
4-6
Pop Histories series.
The energetic graphics and raucous colors of these overviews are suitable for their subjects; overall the books will appeal to readers familiar with the genres, but the busy design and jumpy prose (with occasionally sloppy editing) make linear comprehension difficult. Dramatic photos, captions, quotations, and playlist suggestions abound in these compendiums of trends, performers, and producers. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Pop Histories titles: The Story of Hip-hop, The Story of Pop Music, The Story of Punk and Indie, The Story of Rock Music, The Story of Soul and R&B, and The Story of Techno and Dance Music.
32 pp.
| Manic
| July, 2013
|
TradeISBN 978-1-933149-67-7$15.95
(3)
K-3
In their edgy outfits and colorful hairdos, friendly neighborhood punks assemble one by one to play music, paint, shop, and ultimately attend a concert in the urban setting of this offbeat counting book. Joined by other funky city dwellers, including animals and robots, these fun-loving kids embody what it means to be young, be yourself, and live out loud.