April 14, 2026 by Crown Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Stuyvesant Grey lives in Brooklyn, New York in 2011. His mother was a drummer for a punk band called the Magic Dusters, an dencouraged him from a young age to drum, but his father has never been in the picture. He's even been in the school band, which isn't all that hot. When his mother's boyfriend, Dom, moves in, he leaves and moves in with his Uncle Lucky on the east side. Uncle Lucky has a checkered past, and used to play Russian Roulette with his friend when Stuy was visiting, but after his friend died during one such game, cleaned up his act and became a teacher. His neighbor in Dunks, who is young but owns the apartment building thanks to his wealthy father. Dunks and Stuy put together a rock band with Alexis, Keith, and Frankie, and play in subway stations. They do fairly well, and even get some coverage on the news. WHen Dom hits Stuy's mom, he's angry, and Alexis goes to warn Dom off, but ends up hitting him. Dom presses charges, so the bad decides to play gigs further away from home so the police can't get Alexis. After seeing a video online of his mom's band back in the day, Stuy connects with the poster, who is his half sister Ashley, who lives in the Bronx. The police eventually arrest Alexis, and in desperation, Stuy gives Dom $3,000 the band has raised, hoping Dom drops the charges. He doesn't right away, so Alexis is held for several days. He eventually gets out, but tragedy strikes the bad when Frankie has a seizure because his cancer has returned. He passed away, but the band, Soundtrack, tries to stay together.
Stuyvesant Grey lives in Brooklyn, New York in 2011. His mother was a drummer for a punk band called the Magic Dusters, an dencouraged him from a young age to drum, but his father has never been in the picture. He's even been in the school band, which isn't all that hot. When his mother's boyfriend, Dom, moves in, he leaves and moves in with his Uncle Lucky on the east side. Uncle Lucky has a checkered past, and used to play Russian Roulette with his friend when Stuy was visiting, but after his friend died during one such game, cleaned up his act and became a teacher. His neighbor in Dunks, who is young but owns the apartment building thanks to his wealthy father. Dunks and Stuy put together a rock band with Alexis, Keith, and Frankie, and play in subway stations. They do fairly well, and even get some coverage on the news. WHen Dom hits Stuy's mom, he's angry, and Alexis goes to warn Dom off, but ends up hitting him. Dom presses charges, so the bad decides to play gigs further away from home so the police can't get Alexis. After seeing a video online of his mom's band back in the day, Stuy connects with the poster, who is his half sister Ashley, who lives in the Bronx. The police eventually arrest Alexis, and in desperation, Stuy gives Dom $3,000 the band has raised, hoping Dom drops the charges. He doesn't right away, so Alexis is held for several days. He eventually gets out, but tragedy strikes the bad when Frankie has a seizure because his cancer has returned. He passed away, but the band, Soundtrack, tries to stay together.
This is more of a young adult book, since the characters are mostly high school age, and there is an f word or two. There are some sections where the dialog is written to look like a movie script. It's an interesting story, but I haven't had middle school students in a bad for nearly twenty years. If Reynolds is popular in your high school library, or if you have a lot of readers who are into music, this would be a good choice.
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