Teen Booklist - Music in the Pages

Teen Read Week takes place in October, and last year's theme was "Books with Beat." Being a musician myself, I love the idea of creating a list of books that feature music as the main element and unifying theme. I found myself unable to participate, however; it turned out that my son was born on the first day of that week, so I was understandably doing other things at the time.

I resurrected the idea for April, which is National Poetry Month. I firmly believe that music, be it melodic or lyrical, perfectly fits the criteria of poetry, despite whatever a pedantic literature major might tell you. Due to the eclectic nature of teen lit and musical tastes, this list has a little bit of everything.

• The Spoken Word Revolution, by Mark Eleveld
• Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture, by Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley
• Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• Tempo Change, by Barbara Hall
• Harmonic Feedback, by Tara Kelly
• Heavy Metal and You, by Christopher Krovatin
• I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, by Stephanie Kuehnert
• Ballads of Suburbia, by Stephanie Kuehnert
• Four Seasons, by Jane Breskin Zalben
• Beat the Band, by Don Calame
• Freaked, by J. T. Dutton
• Troll Bridge, by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
• My Life: The Musical, by Maryrose Wood
• Born Blue, by Han Nolan
• Angels on Sunset Boulevard, by Melissa de la Cruz
• Born to Rock, by Gordan Korman
• Beige, by Cecil Castellucci
• Unsigned Hype, by Booker T. Mattison
• Five Flavors of Dumb, by Antony John
• Garage Band, by Gipi
• Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, by Bryan Lee O'Malley
• Roadsong, by Allan Gross and Joanna Estep
• So Punk Rock (And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), by Micol and David Ostow 
• A Little Wanting Song, by Cath Crowley
• Battle of the Bands, by K. L. Denman
• Hurricane Song, by Paul Volponi
• Heartsinger, by Karlijn Stoffels
• Somebody Everybody Listens To, by Suzanne Supplee
• La Corda d'Oro, by Yuki Kure
• Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, by Maggie Stiefvater 
• Somebody Scream!: Rap Music's Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power, by Marcus Reeves