Take 5: Love with a musical soundtrack (guest post by Kearsten)

Do you see love in the neon colors and new wave sounds of the 80s? Try Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, an enchantingly sweet and sad story of first love between two high school misfits. Both Park and Eleanor are unsure of where they fit-in, and are cutely awkward as they bond over comic books, the Smiths, Joy Division, the Cure, and, of course, Star Wars references. And what book lover can resist one character telling the other she likes him because, “‘You look like a protagonist…You look like a person who wins in the end'”?!

Do you harbor a secret (or not-at-all secret) love for the Beatles? Join British teen, Toby, in I am NOT the Walrus by Ed Briant, who just wants to play Beatles songs on his brother’s bass guitar with his best – and only – friend.Okay, so maybe he’d also like to play a gig and wow crowds of girls with his musical ability/sex appeal. But then he finds a note hidden his brother’s bass suggesting that maybe his brother stole the guitar.  And his new, female, and hot friend, Michelle, thinks he should try to find the original owner. Should he return the bass? Should he forget about the note and play the gig his buddy found for them? Should he spend the next two days wooing Michelle?  Or should he just focus on evading the seriously creepy and dangerous-looking dude that seems really want Toby’s bass, no matter what it takes?

If you’re looking to find love in the audience of an underground punk rock show, you need to read Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. This is an older book, but features another sweet, but definitely saltier, love story, this time set in New York City. In one crazy, punk rock-filled night, Norah and Nick meet at a show, and, in a moment of unusual generosity (and some curiosity) agreed to work together to try to make their respective exes jealous. They spend the rest of the evening chasing a secret concert, meeting up with then losing track of their friends (who are hilarious), fighting with and then falling for each other…as often happens in all-night New York City adventures (or so I hope).

More Music and Books
Karen also highly recommends Guitar Notes by Mary Amato and Wise Young Fools by Sean Beaudoin 

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