All Our Pretty Songs

Gr 10 Up—Art and music run rampant through an unnamed narrator's journey with her best friend, strikingly beautiful Aurora, as frightening and elusive strangers promise drugs, fame, and love. The writing is rich and lush, yet conveys immediacy and is comprehensible even when the events are not. The teens have been as close as sisters since childhood, united by their mothers' friendship, which has since ended. Aurora's rich, druggie mother married a rock musician who made it big and then died, while the narrator's mom is poor, vegan, and dabbles in tarot-card reading and spellcasting. The money that Aurora carelessly uses to fulfill her wishes doesn't make her happy, and her reckless behavior has placed the protagonist into a guardian role. The budding artist thinks that her own lack of stunning beauty might mean that she will never be loved-until Orpheus-like Jack appears, along with the mythic Minos and other shadowy characters who become both real and symbolic temptations. Billed as the first book in a trilogy, this title will appeal to readers of Francesca Lia Block with its blend of romance and the ultra-hip music world. The mesmerizing cadence of the internal dialogue is fresh, distinct, and surprisingly sharp. The descent into the underworld is riveting as the heroine tries to fight for her loved ones' fates. Raw sex and foul language accompany the shadow world that promises fame and one's heart's desire, and only faith in the narrator makes the journey endurable. Brilliant in concept and execution.—Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO