Fresh out of 10th grade and freshly dumped by her dreamboat music nerd boyfriend Micah, June Dixon is headed to Camp Decibelle for the summer. The girls-only rock camp sounds like the perfect destination for a budding drummer with a respectfully punk attitude — except for the “girls-only” part. Once at Decibelle, June is thrown in among her fellow campers, a hodgepodge of indie wannabes, aggro-folkheads and metal sleazoids. All of them are aiming for superstardom, starting with the camp’s Battle of the Axes competition. Learning to keep a beat and start a band is tough enough but June must also contend with the dueling egos (and rhythms) of her bossy bandmate Jess, Jess’s disgruntled best friend from home M3, and a bitchy drummer whose rumored uncle is June’s hero, legendary songwriter Lee Rooney. And then there’s the puzzling case of Brice Mills, the famous-in-his-own-right counselor who’s supposed to be coaching June’s band but seems to have taken an unusual interest in June herself. Sassy, fun and packed full of pop culture references, June of Rock is a love letter to both girl power and the power of music.
You might recognize Elisa Ludwig’s name from her upcoming release with Katherine Tegen Books, Pretty Crooked (due out in March). What you may not know is that she also wrote (and self-published) this fun-filled book. I’ve always had a love of books or TV that incorporate my weakness for music. June of Rock doesn’t disappoint.
June’s boyfriend breaks up with her right before she’s set to go spend the summer at a rock camp. She’s wanting to go to learn to play the drums better and to practice with a real band. The camp set up is fascinating. It’s a girls-only camp, they spend the morning doing various lessons and nights practicing with their band in preparation for the summer’s end Battle of the Axes.
June’s such a fascinating character. She reminds me a lot of myself in not only her music tastes, but also the fact she doesn’t connect with girls easily. She slowly begins to learn that there are girls out there that aren’t all that bad.
If you are looking for a romance, you are going to want a different book. While there is some romance, June of Rock is more of a self-discovery and friendship/girl power book. If you love music, this is definitely your book!
June of Rock doesn’t have the “self-published” feel that many of us shy away from. I haven’t read Pretty Crooked yet, but if it’s anything like this one I’m sure it’ll be entertaining.