Release Date ~ June 1, 2012
Chicken House ~ Scholastic Inc.
ISBN13: 9780545304382
ARC received from Scholastic Canada
Goodreads Synopsis
*Silent Scream!*
Kass Kennedy is nobody's idol. She does forget the lyrics. She's not a gleek. The x factor? Not her! Read her lips: She has the right to remain silent.
Just try telling that to her dad.
Because he's totally lost it this time, demanding Kass audition for a TV talent show. Which would be slightly less than death-by-embarrassment if Kass could (duh!) actually sing. And if even the smallest part of her craved the spotlight. Stardom is her dad's dream, not hers. But he's so fragile, she's afraid he just might crack if she doesn't go through with his latest, craziest plan.
Not helping: Her hopelessly MIA mom. The budding criminal mastermind also known as her kid brother. And amateur shrink Izzy and used-to-be-sweet Char, who've gone all frenemies over a boy in brown boots. (Don't ask.)
It's only rock n' roll? If only! Inside, Kass is screaming, but no one is listening. How loud does a girl have to shout to be heard?
The synopsis to this book kind of confused me. I mean, the first parts make it sound like a comedy book, but the last part sounds like a drama. I decided to read this book because it looked alright to me, but I wasn't quite sure what to make of it before. I'm so thankful that I did, or else I wouldn't have read this really good novel.
- Kass's Narration:
The way the protagonist narrated the entire book reminded me a lot of Greg from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, in the way that she's always constantly poking at herself in a funny way. She doesn't sugar coat herself, she just says it the way it is. For instance, she doesn't try to pretend she's an amazing singer. She's just like, I'm a really bad singer, nothing's going to change that, but I'm ok with being a not-so-awesome singer. I wouldn't exactly call it low self esteem either; I'm not quite sure how to define how Kass feels about herself. I admired her for being able to identify her flaws, but was also able to highlight her strengths. She made all these jokes about what was going on, but sometimes the things happened were just so crazy and drama filled that they were funny. - Kass's relationship with her dad:
I absolutely loved the relationship portrayed between Kass and her dad. From the plot synopsis, you can probably tell that he's not the most... Normal of parents. While many teens would just flat out refuse, but Kass makes an effort to make her dad proud, although it may not be her dream. They had their disagreements, and Kass got angry with her dad a lot in the book, but you could still tell that she felt really close to him, and that she loved him a lot. You could also see that she was really special in her dad's eyes. I wish that more YA books had parent relationships like this. - The author's ability to handle touchy subjects:
One of the major things brought up in the book was mental illness. I thought that the author did a really great job at dealing with this issue. She explained really well how hard things can be, but also explained how good things can also be. She also dealed with other things such as underage drinking, touched on self harm, and when a boy tries to take advantage of a girl. I thought that the way things played out in the novel for these was very well done, and they weren't downplayed too much. These things were kept serious in the book, because they were trying to get a good message across.
Purchase Links
United States
|
Canada
|
International
|
2 comments:
Well, I think I may just need to give this a try. I wasn't sure about this one, but you've convinced me it's worth reading.
Really great review, I've seen this book around a lot but never really knew if it was for me. I'm still a little on the fence but I do like that the author knows how to handle touchy subjects and not downplay them.
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.