Open Road Summer

February 3, 2014
Reagan and Dee have been friends since they were young, and although their lives are very different, they’re still close at 17. Dee, known to her fans as Lilah, is a country music star with a “squeaky-clean” reputation. Reagan may get good grades, but she dresses like a bad girl, drinks, and has an arm in a cast from a confrontation with the boyfriend she met while doing community service. When Dee needs support after splitting with her longtime boyfriend, she invites Reagan on tour; that’s where Reagan meets Matt, a former teen sensation who is Dee’s opening act. The two plot strands—the stresses of Dee’s love life, celebrity, and tabloid travails vs. Reagan’s struggle to accept her past and shape her future—aren’t always equally effective; for one thing, it’s hard to believe a photo of a kiss (in which Dee appears to be, but isn’t actually, topless) would be so shocking in today’s Miley Cyrus world. Nevertheless, Reagan’s tough, wised-up voice and her burgeoning romance with Matt are the engines that keep Lord’s engaging debut moving along. Ages 12–up. Agent: Taylor Martindale, Full Circle Literary.