Musical Youth by Joanne C.
Hillhouse
Caribbean Reads Publishing, 2014
Caribbean Reads Publishing, 2014
Just finished reading Musical Youth, 2nd place
winner of the inaugural 2014 Burt award for YA literature at the Bocas Festival in Trinidad
I give it an A+ for (among
other things) capturing in a very interesting way the tentative attraction and
growing relationship of boy and girl in the teen years, as well as affirmation of
how friends can help one another over some of the uncertainties and humps of
those turbulent years.
The music references and the summer preparation for a major musical
performance by the teens, with all the attendant near failures and individual anxieties
and successes for the characters, should make it compelling reading for the target
age group.
The message that youth do not have to discard the old (music), but
understand, transform and utilize it to enrich their own expressions is
refreshing.
The youth in the story, set in Antigua, draw on the musical influences
from world cultures to make something uniquely theirs and that is what the Caribbean
is (or should be) about.
The characters, both young and old are very true to life –
from the main characters, teens, Zahara and
Shaka and his Crew, to the grandparents and other adults in their lives.
The story is modern; the teens are technology savvy. A discussion
about skin shade, what is considered beauty and attractive to the opposite sex
is central to the story. The characters are forced to face this continuing
enigma in the Caribbean consciousness head on. Some of them come to realize the
uniqueness and value of individuals quite apart from skin colour.
Some very important themes are explored in this book. Get a
copy. You will be entertained. Buy one for a teen in your life.
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