Screaming Divas

Gr 10 Up—A contemporary coming-of-age novel that focuses on music, sex, and drugs, told from the points of view of four teenage girls who are all searching for something. Trudy, Cassandra, Harumi, and Esther come from different walks of life. Trudy is no stranger to juvenile detention, and finds herself kicked out of both of her parents' homes. Cassandra is a former beauty queen with an ugly scar and a newfound addiction to heroine. Harumi is a violin prodigy with overbearing Japanese parents, and Esther is a confused teen struggling with her sexuality. The four of them come together to form a band called the Screaming Divas that is in desperate need of practice. But as the girls get better and the band becomes more popular, Cassandra falls deeper into her addiction, and after an argument with Trudy, ends up dying from a drug overdose. While this is a relatively short book, the pacing is painfully slow. It isn't until halfway through the book that the group actually forms, and readers are unlikely to find the characters likable or believable. Unless teens are heavily invested in the rock and roll theme, they are unlikely to be hooked by this story that fails to perform.—Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT