Melody Burning

October 17, 2011
Twilight meets Tarzan in a Los Angeles high-rise in adult author Strieber’s (Communion) disappointing YA debut. After his father is murdered, a boy hides from the killer in an apartment building that is still under construction; he never leaves, growing up to become a feral teenager who lives in the crawlspaces of the now-occupied structure. At 16, he falls in love with a new occupant: pop star/actress Melody McGrath, a troubled young woman with a blossoming career and an abusively domineering mother. Beresford (having named himself for the building he calls home) stalks Melody, who starts out fearing him, then makes an instant 180 and returns his love (“Oh, he was beautiful, he was beautiful, he was gentle and amazing, and he lives in the walls”). Together they contend with Melody’s disapproving mother and the building’s crooked owner, who plans to destroy it for insurance money. The potential of the premise is lost in a sea of flaws: the villain is one-dimensional, the teenage voices are inauthentic, characters’ mood swings are abrupt and implausible, and Melody’s lyrics are downright painful. Ages 12–up.

November 1, 2011
A ham-handed contemporary Phantom of the Opera that features a teen pop sensation and an agoraphobic boy by the adult author of The Wolfen (1978). Teen singer and actress Melody McGrath wakes one night to find an attractive boy beside her bed. His name is Beresford, and he's been living in the walls of her L.A. high rise since the day his father was murdered for trying to document the building's violations. Instead of being understandably terrified, Melody is charmed, and the two fall in love immediately. They are torn apart when the building super discovers Beresford, and he is shipped off to foster care. Luckily, just before he is taken away, Beresford sees the basement bomb planted by the shady superintendent and his father's murderer in order to collect a hefty insurance check. So he breaks out of juvie and arrives just in time to save Melody from the burning building by crawling down the side, Spider-Man style. Stronger writing may have distracted readers from the plot's sheer implausibility, but insipid lines such as, " ‘Melody,' he said in his heart, ‘if I die tonight, my last thought will be of you,' " and overuse of the words "beautiful" and "perfect" to describe everything from Melody's eyes to Beresford's muscles do little to help its case. Too many sour notes in this melody. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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December 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-This fast-paced melodrama is told from the alternating views of teens Melody McGrath, a high-maintenance music/TV star, and Beresford, an orphan who lives behind the walls of Melody's high-rise apartment building. Due to the ambitions of her barracuda mom, Melody is a superstar singer and the lead in a hit TV show. She describes her poor-little-rich-girl life of fame and glamour in a breezy, Hollywood voice. Beresford's story unfolds in the third person, as readers are told about his solitary existence hiding in the walls and ceilings of the building, sleeping in vacant apartments, bathing when people vacation, and dressing in tenants' forgotten clothes. When the pricey high rise's greedy owner hires an arsonist to work security, it soon becomes apparent that the occupants are in grave danger. The story feels like a mash-up of Beverly Hills 90210, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with a little Spiderman thrown in for good measure. Lines such as "Careful, Jim, he's a monster!" and "I want him. I can help him grow and become a real person" exemplify the lack of subtlety and character development. For readers wanting romantic adventure with clear-cut good guys and bad guys in a no-brainer read, this will be a good fit.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Grades 8-10 The Phantom of the Opera meets Hannah Montana in this story of young Beresford, who lives alone inside the walls of an L.A. apartment building, and his obsession, Melody, an emerging singing sensation ensconced on the top floor with her overbearing mother-manager. The account of the several life-changing days in which the teens become aware of each other is presented in alternating chapters from different points of view. Interspersed among these chapters is the story of Frank, who has been released from prison for the sole purpose of killing the teens for the insurance money. Readers will likely be caught up in the melodrama: Will Beresford reveal himself? Will Melody's career take off? Will Frank succeed? Although a few details go up in flames as the action climaxes, Strieber, the author of several adult titles of speculative fiction and nonfiction has penned an engrossing YA debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)