Harmony Jones, The High Note (Girl vs Boy Band #2), Bloomsbury, 1 June 2017, 267pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408878279
The High Note is the second book in the Girls Vs Boy Band series by Harmony Jones. In this adventure, protagonist Lark Campbell must juggle her own musical identity whilst managing the excitement of having the hottest boy band on the planet as house guests.
Lark has the life most tweens dream of – her mother works in the music industry and manages boy band Abbey Road, made up of two dreamy British boys, Ollie and Max, and local talent Teddy, who Lark happens to have a massive crush on. But Lark’s first priority is finding her own feet on the musical stage. She writes and performs country music and, with the help of her best friend Mimi as aspiring film maker, Lark finds secret internet fame as the mysterious ‘Songbird’.
As Abbey Road’s fame soars, Lark’s life becomes complicated and she yearns to spend quiet time with her musician dad in Nashville while she looks for a way to achieve her own dream. When she finds herself unexpectedly in the spotlight at a famous music festival, she knows she has a once in a lifetime opportunity. Will she overcome her nerves and win over the fans? And what about Lark’s mother? Can she find time in her own career to support her daughter? Then there’s that kiss … on a rooftop, in the moonlit.
The High Note borders on fan fiction and will be gobbled up by pop music loving tweens – possibly under the bedcovers with a torch after lights out. Lark is mature beyond her twelve years (she behaves more like a fifteen year old), and just about everyone in her life is impossibly talented, but the story moves along at a clip, and should leave young readers clambering for the next adventure in the series.
Reviewed by Jane O’Connell
