Songs for a Teenage Nomad

 

 



Songs for a Teenage Nomad

 

Kim Culbertson

 

Sourcebooks

 

I’m a huge Paul Simon fan. I especially love the song, “Late in the Evening.” Every time I hear its Caribbean influences and high, upbeat tempo, I’m transported to high school memories playing xylophone as the only girl in the percussion section. Throughout our four years together, my fellow percussionists and I brought our own individual dynamic to the section, yet together, we performed as one, in unison, one heart beating in time. We were leaders of the band dictating each and every beat keeping the band together. We were all connected by music.

 

Callie Smith steps to a different beat than most people. Having moved twelve different places in the last eight years, things have gotten lost or stolen. For her, music is impermanent. It has been her connection through which she identifies with her free-spirited mother and the one passion she shares with her unknown father. The mere collection of words and notes has been associated in her brain with memories, emotions, stories, and feelings about certain events in her life. It has been her safe haven. She lands in Andreas Bay California and finds her own tune as she makes, new friends, meets a handsome young man, and joins the theater.

 

Songs for A Teenage Nomad is an amazing book. I absolutely fell in love with the soundtrack especially the way it is incorporated by the author into each of Callie’s past memories in every chapter opening. Every song provided added more depth to the characters and the story line. Throughout the book, the dialogue is realistic of a teenager and her thoughts about the world. My heart often ached for Callie as she navigated her new surroundings but it made the story more modern.  I really enjoyed this book as it is definitely a book that you will want to revisit over and over again just like your favorite song.

 

Rating: 4.5/5

 

I read this book and reviewed it as a part of Nerdy Book Club.