Harmony Jones, The Right Track (Girl vs. Boy Band #1), Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin, 240pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408868546
A sunny slice of escapism for tween girls, the first book in this new series of friendship, puppy love and pop music will appeal to fans of Taylor Swift, One Direction and all things pop.
Twelve-year-old Lark is a Taylor Swift-esque aspiring singer-songwriter who’s just moved with her mother from Nashville to LA following her parents’ split. Homesick for her Southern roots and missing her father, Lark’s life is thrown into further disarray when her mother signs a British Boy Band called Abbey Road (with striking similarities to One Direction, although they are a three-piece) to her record label. The next thing Lark knows, three cheeky brits are moving into her Beverly Hills mansion, ready for her mother to mould them into the Next Big Thing.
Meanwhile, Lark’s extreme stage fright means the only person she feels comfortable performing her own music for is her best friend, aspiring filmmaker Mimi. But Lark’s middle school crush Teddy Reese has asked her to accompany him in a musical performance for the upcoming school talent show. Will Lark finally perform her songs in front of her peers, and will Abbey Road become the next superstar boy band?
While highly formulaic, this light and breezy tween novel ticks all the right boxes for a fun, easy read and will appeal to fans graduating from shorter middle-school series like The Cupcake Diaries and Dork Diaries.
I did find the character of Lark somewhat frustrating and inconsistent; she was obviously meant to be in pain from her parent’s divorce but sometimes came across as rude and ungrateful given her life of privilege. Her age of twelve was also unconvincing; she seemed to be a good few years older. On the other hand I enjoyed Mimi and would have like to see her character further developed. The Abbey Road boys were full of fun, mischief and British charm.
I look forward to seeing how Lark’s character develops through the course of the series.
Reviewed by Melinda Allan