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| Book #18 of 2010 |
| Title: Struts and Frets |
| Author: Jon Skovron |
| Publisher: Amulet Books |
| Pub Date: February 2009 |
| Grade: B+ |
| Comments: Struts and Frets is the story of Sammy, whose main concerns are his band and girls. He loves songwriting but doesn’t really want to be a frontman so he sticks with Tragedy of Wisdom even though the singer is unpredictable and his best friend plays the wrong bass lines. His best girl friend, Jen 5, has always been a friend to him, until bandmate T.J. decides he likes her too. Sammy’s Grandpa, a jazz musician, has been increasingly difficult, as he loses some of his mental faculties. Sammy wants to win the battle of the bands but he’s not sure he’s going to make it.
Struts and Frets didn’t wow me in the beginning and I almost stopped reading it. I think I do need to stop reading books about teen music fans as the band choices the author makes always annoy me (I just saw the Pixies in concert two months ago, and at 27 I was the youngest person in the room - but they’re famous enough that I can almost be persuaded a current high school student might know them. But Jesus and Mary Chain? Teens can be hip music fans without knowing the hip music of the author’s childhood).
In spite of this, I kept reading and really enjoyed this novel in the end. The things I liked most are:
1.) The romance was well-described, resolved relatively early in the book, and was flawed in a good way.
2.) The grandfather’s storyline - I loved the relationship the grandfather has with Sammy and how it progresses throughout the story. The resolution was surprising, yet fitting. And I completely bought Sammy’s jazz knowledge as a result of his relationship with the grandfather.
3.) Jen5’s father - another surprising and unique character.
4.) The resolution of the band storyline. I liked Sammy’s choices regarding crazy, angry Joe and I thought it was appropriate how it turned out.
The resolution to the novel definitely proved my initial reaction wrong and I’m glad I stuck with this moving story.
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| In Depth Reviews: Boing Boing, Wondrous Reads, Reading Junky’s Reading Roost |
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