Notes from an Accidental Band Geek

by Erin Dionne

Overview

From the author of Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies comes a middle grade novel hailed by Linda Urban as “A perfect blend of laugh out loud funny and real-world heart.”
 
Elsie Wyatt wants to be an orchestra superstar, like her dad and grandfather. The first step? Get into a super-selective summer music camp. In order to qualify, Elsie must “expand her musical horizons” by joining her high school’s marching band. Not only does this mean wearing a plumed hat and polyester pants, but it also means she can’t play her own instrument, can’t sit down, and can’t seem to say the right thing to anyone…let alone Jake, the cute trumpet player she meets on the first day. Plus, everything she does seems to cause a disaster. Surviving marching band is going to be way harder than Elsie thought.
 
For fans of funny, realistic, every-girl novels like Wendy Mass’s 13 Gifts and Lisa Greenwald’s My Life in Pink & Green.


“It has humor, heart, and a touch of romance that will provide ample fodder for booktalks.”—School Library Journal
 
“Marching-band kids everywhere will enjoy this believable celebration of a life-changing, musical rite of passage.”—Kirkus

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101529409
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/01/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Lexile:	770L (what's this?)
File size:	417 KB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Erin Dionne lives in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

Elsie has one passion in life—her French horn—and her dream is to play in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, like her father and grandfather before her. The key to achieving that dream is getting accepted into Shining Birches, a prestigious summer music camp that requires potential players to participate in a musical ensemble, which is why Elsie joins her school marching band. Although band is beneath her musical taste, she will do anything to show her father that she can make it into Shining Birches. But from the first moment, the goofy, high-energy, and high-intensity band is nothing like Elsie expected. This kind of coming-of-age story, about a girl so focused on a goal that she's forgotten to make friends, has been told before, but Dionne (The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet) brings heart and humor to the subject, making it fresh, relatable and fun. A subplot with Elsie trying to impress her father loses steam, but Elsie's band adventures will have readers rooting for her every high step of the way. Ages 10–up (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

It has humor, heart, and a touch of romance that will provide ample fodder for booktalks.” — School Library Journal

“Marching-band kids everywhere will enjoy this believable celebration of a life-changing, musical rite of passage.” — Kirkus

From the Publisher

Gr 6–9—Elsie has her career path all mapped out: she will become the principal French horn player for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, just like her father and grandfather. The 13-year-old's life has revolved around this single focus for years. It hasn't left much time or space for learning to read people or navigate social situations. All that changes when she grudgingly joins marching band and, against all odds, falls in love with it. This self-absorbed, socially awkward narrator who celebrates a good day by cranking out Beethoven on the stereo will present a few hurdles for many readers. The best potential audience will be kids who have at least a passing knowledge of music. Those who get past Elsie's obsession with the French horn and the fact that she turns snappish under pressure will be sure to identify with the scenes of mortal embarrassment that are the hallmarks of young teen life. Who wouldn't want to die on the spot if dubbed "Zombie Chicken" by a whole group of people you just met and with whom you'll be spending the next nine months? While this novel isn't for everyone, it has humor, heart, and a touch of romance that will provide ample fodder for booktalks.—Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library District, Elgin, IL

School Library Journal

Can a serious French horn player ever find happiness in marching band?

Thirteen-year-old Elsie starts out determined not to like her high-school marching band. She's only joined because she needs some ensemble experience before auditioning for the prestigious Shining Birches musical summer camp. One humiliation follows another, many caused by her absolute inability to empathize with those around her, all leaving her frustrated and ashamed. Her problem is understandable: She's pretty convinced that her future hangs solely on the quality of her musical ability, so she's never focused on other people, just practice and more practice. But the transcendent joys of marching band—the intense camaraderie of hours and hours of marching in the hot sun, learning how to stay in straight lines, play clearly, follow drill formations and myriad other details that will ring perfectly true for marching-band geeks—gradually change Elsie's mind. At the same time, she learns, through some trial and mostly error, more effective ways to deal with her controlling parents, manage the stress of adjusting to high school and, most importantly, make friends. At times, Elsie's introspection is painful, as she overanalyzes the nuances of every relationship, but it is simultaneously realistic.

Marching-band kids everywhere will enjoy this believable celebration of a life-changing, musical rite of passage. (Fiction. 11 & up)

Kirkus Reviews