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

After Colby graduates from high school, his well-laid plans to spend a

School Library Journal Starred Review (Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2012)

Gr 9 Up-Enchanting in its depiction of the cusp of young disenchantment, this realistic novel will hit home with many thoughtful YAs. Just after high school graduation but before a long-awaited trip to Europe for Colby and his best friend, Bev, comes a mini-tour, a handful of oddball gigs between San Fran and Portland for Bev's impassioned but technically weak girl band, all in less than a week. No surprise that Colby has been in love with her for longer than he can remember. Big surprise that she has been keeping secret her plan to attend RISD in the fall, not tour Paris and Stockholm. Bev's bandmates, Meg and Alexa, bass and drums respectively, round out the passengers in Colby's Uncle Pete's turquoise vintage VW bus. Lies and life sometimes get in the way of the carefully planned shows and highways, but the people the teens meet and the richness of their experiences take them where they need to go. Colby's dad's old band, a mysterious tattoo linked to a recording's cover art, conversations had and left unspoken, and lots of art—these provide some of the "mountains and canyons" of the contemplative but spectacular narrative. Characters and scenes are created with the same care and attention to detail that Bev spends on her tiny sculptures that allow the people and places of Colby's road trip of passage to pop to life. Profundities will be found or echoed for many readers: we all feel pain, need love, overcome fear, crave beauty—and lose ourselves and gain strength in the elemental force of music.— Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Colby and Bev plan to forgo college in favor of a brief tour with Bev's band, The Disenchantments, followed by a year traveling through Europe. But only hours into the trip, Bev makes an announcement that changes everything. Even among their alternative, artsy friends, Bev and Colby's decision to chase their dreams is a bold move. Following in his father's and his uncle's musical footsteps, Colby borrows Melinda, his uncle's beloved van, to ferry The Disenchantments from one seedy venue to the next. As they travel, the band mates are forced to face some difficult truths about each other and themselves. Each member of the band chronicles their trip in a unique way: journaling, taking photographs, drawing, even with a tattoo. Colby's continued devotion to the self-centered and dishonest Bev is at times irritating, but it is also completely real. Long-held secrets strain friendships and forge new bonds. The old friends quickly realize that dreams are a combination of holding on and letting go. Quirky characters, each with his or her own story, are woven into the narrative, creating a rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller. Hauntingly beautiful. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2012)

Starred Review LaCour's sophomore novel, following her Morris Award finalist Hold Still (2009), features coming-of-age themes uth, uncertainty, pain, passion ich are as common as high-school graduates in June. Yet the novel also possesses an on-the-cusp-of-something soul as unique and memorable as new experiences are to every individual teen. The story tells of a group of creative friends who road trip from San Francisco to Portland so that the titular band, comprised of three hot girls, can play gigs (poorly), and the one guy can pine (unrequitedly) before going away to college . . . or not. The tattoo artists, bartenders, secrets, and lies the teens experience along the way are life changing, as they are destined to be; the feelings of betrayal, confusion, and wonder, and the words used to express them, such as love and f-bombs, are so authentic that introspective readers will feel that the characters understand them exactly. LaCour's skill and compassion make proclamations such as "We all want to feel something, we want to be someone to one another" seem more sincere than sappy and will entice readers to download the girl-band music. This is about the inside and outside of characters, the past and future of their lives d it is astonishing.

Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

After graduation, Colby and his best friend Bev plan to tour the Pacific Northwest with her all-girl band then spend a year in Europe, forgoing college. When Bev reveals she's attending RISD in the fall, Colby panics about what he'll do next. This breathless novel celebrates the magic that results from spontaneity and the simple joy of an open road, a few good friends, and a limitless future.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Colby and Bev plan to forgo college in favor of a brief tour with Bev's band, The Disenchantments, followed by a year traveling through Europe. But only hours into the trip, Bev makes an announcement that changes everything. Even among their alternative, artsy friends, Bev and Colby's decision to chase their dreams is a bold move. Following in his father's and his uncle's musical footsteps, Colby borrows Melinda, his uncle's beloved van, to ferry The Disenchantments from one seedy venue to the next. As they travel, the band mates are forced to face some difficult truths about each other and themselves. Each member of the band chronicles their trip in a unique way: journaling, taking photographs, drawing, even with a tattoo. Colby's continued devotion to the self-centered and dishonest Bev is at times irritating, but it is also completely real. Long-held secrets strain friendships and forge new bonds. The old friends quickly realize that dreams are a combination of holding on and letting go. Quirky characters, each with his or her own story, are woven into the narrative, creating a rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller. Hauntingly beautiful. (Fiction. 14 & up)