Reviews

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

alenka's review

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4.0

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this because it's so sweet and good! The complications in Melly and Olivia's friendship and Melly and Adeline's relationship all felt very real and right for their age. The music aspects were all very fun - Donna is great; best weird, tough punk summer camp counselor ever - and I enjoyed that they were focused on self expression, joy - all the emotional, non-technical stuff about making music. I never got to approach music from that angle, and this book gave me some regrets (in a good way.) It also reminded me of The First Rule of Punk for that reason.

This is one of several queer novels aimed at young readers that presents a protagonist who doesn't have her identity all figured out, and I love that. Melly could be gay or bi, but she doesn't know, and the words she uses will likely change as she grows. That's awesome, and I'm glad we have books like this now! I really could've used them when I was younger.

amerikate's review

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4.0

super cute and refreshing! i'm so happy that there are finally people carving out space for (uplifting, affirming) middle grade stories about lgbt girls and i can't wait to watch how that space grows

wackyykacky's review

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4.0

such a cute summer read with c o m p l e x feelings and parent-child relationships!! and really beautiful character development!

andiekonda's review

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4.0

This was so nice. What a great, charming read.

bbliophile's review

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5.0

Full review to come, but it's safe to say that I liked this a lot.

mikaeladisnerd's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

cozyink's review

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4.0

Cute. It lacked some emotional oomph, though.

bookishsappho's review

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4.0

4.5*

hvaisangs's review

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4.0

there's just something about middle grade sapphic novels that just gets to me. they make me so happy and soft and i really hope little girls are reading them and feeling validated or getting answers or comfort, because i would give anything to have had the chance to read a book like this when i was in middle grade.