DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

Being the new kid at school is difficult enough, but recently losing your mom and your dad not coping with this lost makes Terence Kato decide to establish a band. Terence isn't looking for friendships, just musicians that can share his love of music.

http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2017/08/book-review-boy-seeking-band-by-steve-brezenoff/

There’s a lot to like about this book, but the major thing that stands out to me is this: this is a great book for reluctant/struggling readers who want something that looks/feels “older” than they might normally read. While this is about 8th graders, and could easily be a YA title with not much tweaking, kids 10 and up could comfortably read this book. The cover, plot, and deeper issues the story touches on all make this appealing for both fans of middle grade and fans of younger YA.

Minneapolis teen Terence has spent a few years attending an arts school, but now is at Franklin Middle School, a public school, after his mom died and he and his father moved across town. There’s no money anymore for the private school tuition and Terence’s dad is in rough shape, debilitated by grief and, understandably, not doing the greatest job parenting or helping Terence grieve or adjust to his new school. Terence, who plays bass, joins the school jazz band, but they’re not up to his standards, so he bails, searching instead to form his own band. Terence is just a bit of a music snob, something that really comes to light as he auditions people for his band. Before long he’s joined by other musicians, and while they sound great and really seem to click, Terence repeatedly makes it clear that this is just a band—he’s not looking for friends at Franklin. Like, he actually, repeatedly says out loud that he does not want friends. Sure, buddy. Whatever you say. It’s clear that Terence is struggling to work through his mother’s death and all the changes that came after, but he absolutely does not want to talk about it with his new friends (sorry, bandmates) to the point that he freaks out on them if they begin to show the tiniest bit of compassion to him. In fact, things with the band fall apart, thanks to Terence, just when the Wellstone Music Battle of the Kid Bands is coming up. Terence’s band is being buzzed about at school and they seem like real contenders for the battle, but Terence’s anger and grief, and insistence on going it alone, may get in the way of their potential success.

Brezenoff excels in creating interesting characters. Though Terence holds everyone at a distance, including the reader, the depth of his complicated feelings is clear. He’s surrounded by other people who show there is more to them than what they seem. BOY SEEKING BAND is a well-written look at the ways grief can change a life. Packed with music references, this will appeal to a wide range of readers, but especially to anyone who loves music as much as Terence does. A great addition for both middle grade and young adult collections.

Read this mainly to see if my daughter would like it, I thought it was very good, well written. Will buy her a copy!

Unfortunately, the book Boy Seeking Band was archived before I had a chance to read it. A shame, as I was really looking forward to it, but I will have to be quicker and more mindful of expiration dates in the future.

Get ready for a fresh take on a familiar tune. Adults may read it as the"same old song": the new boy at school, bullies in the hallways, learning to make new friends, and a troubled father-son relationship. Pre-Teen readers, however, will be swift to welcome this dedicated music-themed story that boasts authentic sounds of Middle School Life: the classroom culture, the cafeteria, the handbook, the school band in the basement, and most of all -- the dialogue and diversity of the characters. A "G-rated" story costumed in a "cool YA" cover, this book is a "must have" for school libraries and would serve as a great classroom read-aloud for teachers. Well done, Steve Brezenoff! ARC copy via Netgalley.com ~ Lisa Brennan, Middle School Librarian @noveltalk

This book was delightful, so much so my son is getting ready to read it.

Starting a new school, Terrence meets Eddie, an alternative styled girl who also secretly sings in the school basement after school. Her brother who is a well built sax player and her twin acts like he doesn't like Terence and he feels intimidated easily by him.

At his new school they have a jazz band in which anyone joins if they play an instrument and Terence plays bass guitar already which is why he went to his old school, a private music and art school first. Unfortunately, his mum died from illness leaving his dad depressed hardly leaving the house and his bed at all.

Yet as Terence forms his own band at his new school and they enter into a competition battle of the bands style, he has to face his old band from his last school.

We see Terence's struggle to get emotionally attached to people after losing his mum suddenly. The lessons in the book's storyline's show friendship and standing up for each other as well as how fitting in with others you judge wrongly at first isn't always a bad thing.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!