Kirkus Reviews

After losing his mother, a bereft middle school boy decides to form a band. Terence Kato has had a horrible year: his mother has died; his dad is depressed and spends most days in bed; and he's had to leave his exclusive private art school for the public one. At Franklin Middle School—where music is an extracurricular—Terence decides to form his own band, although, constrained by his grief, he is determined not to make actual friends. He meets Eddie, a girl with "dark skin, short hair, and a suspicious golden piercing in her nose." Eddie is a singer, and over time, she helps him meet the other members that eventually compose their band, the PA Quintet. The group decides to enter a battle-of-the-bands contest only to discover that their competition is none other than Terence's old classmates from his former school. Terence's pain is palpable but only on a surface level; Brezenoff's tale never takes a deep dive into any great character development and keeps readers at arm's length with its third-person, present-tense narration. This aside, the plotting is light and breezy, and while predictable, the story is comfortably uplifting. Music fans will delight in (and most likely run to look up) the dizzying array of musicians mentioned. Though Terence has a common Japanese surname, there is little sense of Japanese identity in the book. A cursory examination of grief that culminates in a feel-good read. (Fiction. 9-13)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Eighth grader Terence Kato transfers to public Franklin Middle School with trepidation and low expectations. In the span of a few short months, Terence-s mother died, his father started spending most of his time in bed, they moved out of their home, and Terence had to leave his private school friends and jazz quintet behind. Terence knows that a new band might be the only way to make his time at Franklin bearable, so he sets out to put together the perfect sound. His only rule? No friends. For Terence, friends mean connection and sympathy, two things he-d rather avoid. But bonds form as the band comes together, reminding Terence that friendship isn-t weakness but strength. Brezenoff (Guy in Real Life) touches on many concerns and stresses in Terence-s life, including his father-s depression, being bullied, and his elitist attitude toward the arts program at Franklin, but they aren-t explored deeply and are resolved fairly neatly. Even so, the disaffected tone of the narration nicely mirrors Terence-s angst, and his friendship with the band-s vocalist, Meredith -Eddie- Carson, is well developed. Ages 9-12. Agent: Edward Necarsulmer IV, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Sept.)

Voice of Youth Advocates (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Terence Kato is dealing with a lot for an eighth grader. His mother has died, his father has checked out emotionally, and, due to financial issues, he has had to leave his prestigious arts school to attend public school. He is crazy-gifted at playing bass guitar, and he figures forming a band like the one he had at his old school is the best way he can deal with all of the loss in his life. Unfortunately, Terence has a pretty big chip on his shoulder. He is arrogant about his talent and initially dismissive of the potential talent of the students at his new school. He also does not want to make friends because he knows their inevitable sympathy about his mom will trigger his own grief. Brezenoff’s winning novel is about how Terence gets over himself, connects with talented musicians that excite him even more than his private school band mates did, and finally forms friendships that help him deal with his grief, rather than avoid it. Terence’s love of music is the bridge that leads him back—to people and to being engaged in the world. The book does an excellent job conveying this love in an authentic manner that music-loving readers will appreciate.—Sean Rapacki.

School Library Journal (Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Gr 4-7Eighth grader Terence Kato recently lost his mother and transferred from his prestigious private school, Hart Arts, to the local public school, where bullies roam the halls and the "unfocused, untalented" jazz band can't hold a candle to Terence's old group, the Kato Quintet. Meanwhile, Terence's father has depression and spends days in his bathrobe marathoning '90s television, leaving Terence to fend for himself. Desperate to escape the dark clouds at home and needing an outlet for his musical talents, the boy combs the halls of Franklin Middle School to find members for his new rock band. The first willing participant is the enigmatic Eddie, whose "vocals are rich and lovely as a devil's food cake covered in honey." As Terence grows closer to Eddie and the rest of the bandmates, a Battle of the Bands competition approaches, and Terence must come to terms with his new life. Unfortunately, an interesting premise disappoints with prose that suffers from a jarring narration, a trite deus ex machina ending, and a cursory examination of grief and depression that only hints at deeper character development. Likewise, the protagonist's prejudiced and privileged opinion of public school education begins to grate as the novel goes on and is never really challenged. VERDICT Similarly plotted books like Erin Entrada Kelly's Blackbird Fly do a better job of appealing to music lovers without sacrificing quality of prose or emotional depth.Ann Santori, Cook Memorial Public Library, Libertyville, IL

ALA Booklist (Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Terence's life has taken a rotten turn: his mom has died, his dad is in a deep depression, they have moved into a rental house, he's transferred from a private arts school to a public middle school, and he left behind his friends and his jazz band. He doesn't want to make friends, but he does want to form a new band. How is he to do one without the other? On his first day at Franklin Middle, Meredith (aka Eddie) appears as he enters the school and continually pops up throughout the day. Initially, Terence finds her annoying, but once he learns she can sing, their rocky relationship grows. Slowly, the two pull together a most unlikely group for their quintet, and, although he resists, Terence finds himself becoming their friend. Maybe public school isn't so bad after all. In this realistic, contemporary novel, Brezenoff creates a cast of unlikely characters with whom readers will empathize, and they'll cheer as Terence and his dad find new meaning to life and friendship.