AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile
Newly graduated, Colby is excited about his future, beginning with a summer tour with his best friend Bev’s girl band, The Disenchantments. After that, he and Bev will wander around Europe together. Robbie Daymond’s low-key narration reflects Colby’s difficulty containing his romantic feelings for Bev. His muted tone changes, however, when brooding Bev announces she won’t be traveling for a year in Europe with Colby after all but instead will be going to college. Colby’s feelings of betrayal and anger threaten to erupt. Daymond captures Colby’s emotional flare-ups—expressed first as ugly muttered sarcasm and finally as full-blown accusations. By the end, the richness of the summer road trip and the people they meet turns Colby’s disenchantment into understanding, letting go, and a stronger sense of self. S.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
After Colby graduates from high school, his well-laid plans to spend a year traveling through Europe go up in smoke when his travel partner and best friend, Bev, reveals she’s going to art school instead. Colby is angry and hurt, but he doesn’t have time to do much brooding. He’s committed himself to playing chauffeur for Bev’s all-girl rock band, the Disenchantments, on their first (and probably last) summer tour. Chronicling the band’s road trip up the West Coast, this insightful coming-of-age story expresses how a teen in limbo learns some profound lessons about disappointment, love, and the pursuit of dreams in some unexpected places. Between gigs, Colby meets unlikely kindred spirits—a tattoo artist, a semifamous graffiti artist, and a female farmer—whose outlooks influence his decisions about the future. LaCour (Hold Still) skillfully draws connections between art and life as she delves into the heart of her characters, revealing their fears and celebrating the creative forces that inspire them to reach for the stars. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger Inc. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"A rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Enchanting...this realistic novel will hit home."—School Library Journal, starred review
"Astonishing."—Booklist, starred review
"Make this book a part of your collection—you will not be disappointed."—VOYA, starred review
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Enchanting in its depiction of the cusp of young disenchantment, this realistic novel will hit home with many thoughtful YAs. Just after high school graduation but before a long-awaited trip to Europe for Colby and his best friend, Bev, comes a mini-tour, a handful of oddball gigs between San Fran and Portland for Bev's impassioned but technically weak girl band, all in less than a week. No surprise that Colby has been in love with her for longer than he can remember. Big surprise that she has been keeping secret her plan to attend RISD in the fall, not tour Paris and Stockholm. Bev's bandmates, Meg and Alexa, bass and drums respectively, round out the passengers in Colby's Uncle Pete's turquoise vintage VW bus. Lies and life sometimes get in the way of the carefully planned shows and highways, but the people the teens meet and the richness of their experiences take them where they need to go. Colby's dad's old band, a mysterious tattoo linked to a recording's cover art, conversations had and left unspoken, and lots of art—these provide some of the "mountains and canyons" of the contemplative but spectacular narrative. Characters and scenes are created with the same care and attention to detail that Bev spends on her tiny sculptures that allow the people and places of Colby's road trip of passage to pop to life. Profundities will be found or echoed for many readers: we all feel pain, need love, overcome fear, crave beauty—and lose ourselves and gain strength in the elemental force of music.—Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA
AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile
Newly graduated, Colby is excited about his future, beginning with a summer tour with his best friend Bev’s girl band, The Disenchantments. After that, he and Bev will wander around Europe together. Robbie Daymond’s low-key narration reflects Colby’s difficulty containing his romantic feelings for Bev. His muted tone changes, however, when brooding Bev announces she won’t be traveling for a year in Europe with Colby after all but instead will be going to college. Colby’s feelings of betrayal and anger threaten to erupt. Daymond captures Colby’s emotional flare-ups—expressed first as ugly muttered sarcasm and finally as full-blown accusations. By the end, the richness of the summer road trip and the people they meet turns Colby’s disenchantment into understanding, letting go, and a stronger sense of self. S.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Colby and Bev plan to forgo college in favor of a brief tour with Bev's band, The Disenchantments, followed by a year traveling through Europe. But only hours into the trip, Bev makes an announcement that changes everything. Even among their alternative, artsy friends, Bev and Colby's decision to chase their dreams is a bold move. Following in his father's and his uncle's musical footsteps, Colby borrows Melinda, his uncle's beloved van, to ferry The Disenchantments from one seedy venue to the next. As they travel, the band mates are forced to face some difficult truths about each other and themselves. Each member of the band chronicles their trip in a unique way: journaling, taking photographs, drawing, even with a tattoo. Colby's continued devotion to the self-centered and dishonest Bev is at times irritating, but it is also completely real. Long-held secrets strain friendships and forge new bonds. The old friends quickly realize that dreams are a combination of holding on and letting go. Quirky characters, each with his or her own story, are woven into the narrative, creating a rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller. Hauntingly beautiful. (Fiction. 14 & up)
