Uptown Dreams

November 15, 2011
An uneven narrative follows four aspiring young artists attending the Harlem Academy of Creative and Performing Arts. An initial chapter from each character's point of view introduces the character and his or her major obstacle. La-La has a younger sister with cancer and an irresponsible mother. Reese produces hip-hop beats in secret, but her strict mother insists she only study classical music. Ziggy hides his dancing because his West Indian father is convinced that boys who dance are gay. Jamaica-Kincaid has convinced her rich, absentee parents that she attends boarding school in Connecticut. As the school year progresses, romances unfold, a rivalry heats up and secrets are revealed. Harlem's 125th Street provides a warm and welcome cohesion among the stories as multiple characters encounter the Sandman, "the official unofficial mayor of Harlem," and Ziggy's brother, Broke-Up, whom Ziggy helps sell knockoff handbags with an illegal vending license. Some gaps and dropped threads in the plot are distracting: Readers see a character wake up from a hangover without having seen her arrive at the party that caused it, and a threat to the school's funding that initially seems significant is resolved off-page. A light read for teens who love performing arts... and the other kind of drama. (Fiction. 12-16)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-La-La is a talented singer with an absent mother and a sister battling cancer; Reese, a classically trained musician, has to sneak around a strict mother to pursue a love of hip-hop; Ziggy, a talented dancer, hides his passion from his Jamaican family because he's worried they'll think he's gay; and JamaicaKincaid wants so desperately to act that she's run away from her Connecticut boarding school to try and make it in New York on her own. All four students attend the Harlem Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, determined to fulfill their artistic dreams no matter what obstacles are placed in their way. Told in short alternating chapters by each character, the story lines get lost in the choppy narrative, but all four characters have encounters with the Sandman, the mythical "unofficial mayor of Harlem," who occasionally offers advice. A romance between La-La and Ziggy will pique readers' interest, but predictable triumphs and run-of-the-mill drama keep this story from achieving star status.-Shawna Sherman, Hayward Public Library, CA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.