Scar Girl

January 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Set in the late 1980s, Scar Girl showcases The Scar Boys (Egmont, 2014), an unlikely group of gifted musicians, back together in this sequel. Presented as a Rolling Stone-type interview with three of the band members, the story attempts to string together a narrative of how they made it big and got messed up-the way bands do. Vlahos's voice is as strong as ever-the trouble is that he's assigned the same voice to three different people. Without reading the section headers, it is very difficult to distinguish among characters. The novel almost stands on its own, lurching from one formulaic problem to the next. The first half features Cheyenne dealing with an unexpected pregnancy; readers then move on to her late-term miscarriage, Vicodin addiction, and alcoholism. The narrative wraps up by explaining why the fourth band member isn't interviewed, and readers never really engage with one problem before they're pushed on to the next one. VERDICT Maybe you can't catch lightning in a bottle twice; the voice is there, but the story struggles to hold together. Purchase where The Scar Boys have been rock stars already.-Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

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Starred review from December 15, 2015
Through an interview format, the members of the Scar Boys recall from their own perspectives the events that take place leading up to the release of their first album in 1988. The recollection begins where The Scar Boys (2014) left off; the band has completed its first packet tour, and frontman Johnny McKenna has been in a terrible accident in which he lost his leg. Immediately, readers will notice the ominous absence of Johnny's voice; he is discussed only in the third person. As the title indicates, the narrative largely centers on bass player Cheyenne Bell. A painful loss, which she suffers in secret, sends her crashing down a dark spiral, unraveling her relationship with Johnny and spilling over into the band dynamic along the way. Even though it is apparent from the onset that tragedy is inevitable, when it strikes, readers will feel as blindsided as the band. Vlahos, a finalist for the Morris Award with The Scar Boys, has succeeded in creating a sequel every bit as compelling and emotionally charged as its predecessor. The pulsating energy formed by creating music is what bonds the band together. This current will pull readers in in hopes that each one of the Scar Boys will find his or her way to resilience through the darkest of times. Like its predecessor, this novel will leave readers aching for an encore. (Fiction. 14-18)

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January 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Picking up where The Scar Boys (2014) left off, this sequel uses an interview format to reintroduce the four members of the band: lead guitarist Harry Jones, whose burned face continues to affect the way he relates to his bandmates and the world; Johnny McKenna, the charismatic leader and boyfriend to bass player Cheyenne Belle; and Richie McGill, the drummer and band anchor. When we last saw them, Johnny was dealing with the loss of his leg after a car accident, but now it's Cheyenne's turn to wrestle with life-changing issues. The interviews are a good vehicle for giving the characters their own voices. But while the title suggests this is Cheyenne's story, the overlapping narratives give readers a look at how all four deal with various unfortunate events while still producing music that stands audiences on their heads. The many included lyrics didactically explain motivations rather than seeming like words that could be set to music, but the sometimes melodramatic story will offer satisfying closure to the first book's many fans who want to know what happened next.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)