TEMPO CHANGE
BARBARA HALL
Contemporary YA
Delacorte Books
ISBN# 978-0385736077
256 Pages
$16.99
Hardcover--Available June 9, 2009
Rating: 4.5 Enchantments
When Blanche Kelly is forced to join the choir by her high school guidance counselor to fill in the gaps on her college resume, she could never imagine it would lead to a chance to reconnect to her father, a famous indie rock icon who she hasn’t seen in years. But the moment she hears Viv open her voice in class, the idea for ‘The Fringers’ is born. All she needs is a few more girls and the band will be complete--well, once she convinces them of the idea anyway.
I really enjoyed TEMPO CHANGE. Blanche’s relationship with her father is pretty well non-existant, consisting mainly of sporatic e-mails that she neglects to tell her mom about. So when she gets the idea to form a band, it’s not only to make her college application look better or win the school talent show, never mind getting a chance to play at the famous Coachella--it might be one way to get her relationship back with her father. I have to say really liked Blanche, I thought she was a fun character and I liked how she actually grew up in her way of thinking over the course of the book, especially with how she thought her mother was ‘settling’ for her new boyfriend, like how could she be happy with a guy who sold guitars when she’d been married to Blanche’s father, a music star? I have to say I liked all the characters in the book, one of my favorites being Viv, the girl who could sing but unlike her parents, wasn’t a brainiac, instead was an athlete.
The subplot later in the story involving Viv seems to come out of nowhere, which was one thing that I found to slightly detract from the story, but it does shake things up and lead the inevitable conclusion of the story. One of my favorite scenes is how Blanche convinces the girls to be in ‘The Fringers’. I don’t want to spoil it, but its pretty unique way that the other three girls can’t really say no to, once its been announced.
If you’re a fan of music-centered YA Fiction, you should definitely pick up TEMPO CHANGE.
Barbara Hall is the author of eight novels and has written and produced numerous television shows, including Joan of Arcadia. She lives in Santa Monica, California, with her daughter
Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
June 2009
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