Layla. Rosanna. Elise. Donna. Delilah. They all have something in common with Audrey: they are all women immortalized in song by a former lover.
Audrey Cuttler thought she was just another normal teenager. She worked at the local ice cream shop. Her idea of a good time was scoring concert tickets with her best friend, Victoria. Her biggest worry was trying to avoid her high school nemesis, the stuck-up Sharon Eggleston. She had a typical high school boyfriend, Evan, who was the lead singer of just another wannabe MTV band. And they went through a typical high school break-up.
This was Audrey's life--until Evan decided to express his anguish over their break-up by writing a little song entitled "Audrey, Wait!"...and his band performs it in front of the entire school...and it catches on to local radio...and then the Billboard Top 100...and then MTV. And suddenly, Evan's band, The Do-Gooders, are the hottest band in popular music, and "Audrey, Wait!" is the hottest song on the charts...and everyone is interested in Audrey and her life.
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway is not your typical, coming-of-age, dramatic YAL book. There are no dramatic "D" themes (drug problems, eating disorders, untimely deaths, diseases, and in the case of my last YAL book, Debbie Harry Sings In French...teenage drag dressing). Audrey has a healthy social, family, and educational life in practically every way. Until the song "Audrey, Wait!" becomes the representation of everything she is, turning her personal life into the newest tabloid obsession practically overnight.
Imagine at age 16...
- running from the paparazzi on your first date with a new boyfriend
- explaining to your parents why the house phone is ringing off the hook with reporters from all over the country requesting interviews
- Internet message boards bashing you
- fan clubs dedicated to you
- videos of yourself (and you didn't even know you were being taped!) broadcasted on YouTube
These are the adventures that Audrey takes the reader on, and after a while, the reader starts to feel like one of Audrey's friends. She tells her story as if the reader is a familiar confidant living in the same world as her, someone who is fully aware of who she is, because the reader has heard the song "Audrey, Wait!" a million times and seen her picture in all the magazines as well. Each chapter is cleverly introduced with a popular song lyric and the name of the song and band; music, the reader can assume, that Audrey loves and listens to herself. Some music that I also happen to listen to. By the end of the book, Audrey and I were BFF.
I don't know if I would push to have this book included in a high school curriculum for any particular educational value, but I wouldn't shun it for any reason. The author does point out parallels to The Scarlett Letter and also references Charles Dickens. Furthermore, Audrey loves to point out all the PSAT words that she throws around in her trendy vocabulary.
Overall, I think it was a very entertaining novel and a clever way to address the struggle of forming and discovering your own self-identity while the world is watching and simultaneously taking it upon itself to form one for you.
7 comments:
"...your own self-identity while the world is watching and simultaneously taking it upon itself to form one for you."
I like the way you ended this review. I was sold on the cover of the book alone. I can just imagine how embarrasing Audrey must have been. I want to read the book just to hear how her ex portrays her. Anyway, back to your quote, it seems that when the world is watching you, the concept of 'self' is thrown out the window. You become whatever they say you are. This can be a good theme high school teachers can use for students having trouble identifying who they are, like the character in your last story.
Yeah this is nice, I especially liked the "imagin part" it help me get into the novel with out reading it and created a sense of excitement for me. I like the way you related to real life high school issues such as self-preception
I guess we understand how Sharona feels when she hears "My Sharona". This book seems like a hoot. I would love to read it. I would like to know if this novel is based upon a real life adventure by the author. Overall it seems like an excellent read and not every book needs to be taught and analyzed in a literary way. Why can't we just read for fun?
Not long ago, I read an article in the paper about what it was like for the Delilah inspiration for the Plain White T's song. This book seems a lot like a fictionalized account of that article. I think you're right--it's more of an entertaining easy read than something to be included in the classroom--but this book sounds like a great recommendation for a student looking for a good summer book.
I was struggling with trying to find a book that uses different types of media within itself for a project I am doing...but I think you found it for me! When you said that the chapters are labeled as song lyrics with titles and artists, I knew that I could easily use this book.
Your review was strong, and I will most likely be reading this book over break...thanks!
Hi Lauren--nice job, and great comments here, too. Like Shirley, I was really struck by your ending.
It seems to me your ending suggests a theme common in the world today--this idea of "celebrity," and in particular growing up in front of cameras. For some people, the cameras appear because of talent, for others, because of sensation. For many others, they just appear because this is now something we can do: set up a camera, and you are on YouTube.
So maybe this novel is tapping into and representing something really interesting that is going on in our society more generally speaking.
If you can't tell, I'm providing some support for the final exam option related to using your reading to develop interpretations of what is going on in the world today.
On a different note, your review reminds me of texts like Just Listen and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist....the teen obsession with music and technology seems to be making its way into a lot of novels these days.
Thanks again for a "cool" review.
TP
One more thought--maybe add in some hyperlinks before the end of the project, to help with the connections you make in this review?
Cheers,
TP
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