Guitar Girl

Sex, drugs, and rock & roll... a common high-school fantasy, right? In British author Sarra Manning's debut novel Guitar Girl, this oft-trumpeted triple-temptation proves to be terribly trying for a budding pop star. Molly Montgomery and her friends Tara and Jane live largely unnoticed until they form a fledgling girl band that will "be part of the new girl revolution." Fragile-yet-feisty Molly writes songs about Hello Kitty and boy crushes because that's the stuff of her world--a childhood closely guarded by her "crunchy granola," rule-oriented parents she dramatically deems "power-crazed fascists." But when her band is joined by a couple of older boys and attracts the attention of a fancy manager, "The Hormones" start racing--big gigs, an American tour, the whole bit. During her wild ride to stardom, Molly gets her first kisses from both a boy and a girl, gets drunk for the first time (but not the last), and loses her virginity and her sense of self, too. Any teenager who romanticizes celebrity will get a good dose of the reality of drug overdoses, morning-after pills, legal battles, exploitation, humiliation, and exhaustion with Guitar Girl...still, Manning manages to communicate the rush of wowing an audience and the joy and power of music through the often bittersweet, often bitingly funny voice of Molly. For a variation on the same theme, investigate Rachel Cohn's Pop Princess. (Ages 13 and older) --Karin Snelson