Songs for a Teenage Nomad

Calle Smith feels like no place is home. After all, she's moved twelve times in the past eight years. That's not exactly great for feeling a sense of community or making friends, but she's learned to rely on herself and keeps a song journal as a balance wheel. This time things are different, despite the same old story about her dad being a complete loser and her mother having finally found and married Mr. Right (for the umpteenth time). Her mom has always told her that her father abandoned them, but as Calle starts making connections and friends, she also begins to question whether her mother has been honest with her. Making friends is a strange, new experience, but one that grows on her, particularly the kids involved in drama. Sam, enigmatic Sam, intrigues her from the day he sits beside her and she feels a connection. Unfortunately, he won't treat her in public like he did that day and despite her attraction to him, she begins to think that he's only playing her. As time goes on, however, she discovers they have more secrets and sadness in common. Near the end of the book, Calle not only has to deal with the truth about her parents' relationship, but with the reasons, both sad and complex, that make Sam unable to be open about his feelings for her. They are ones she can understand and can help him work through. The ending, while sad and with a real tragedy, is satisfying. This is an excellent story with extremely well-crafted characters. Teens who like a book that has strong emotional appeal, or who have had difficult family experiences growing up will really relate to it.

I didn't notice until I was a few chapters in that the chapters were the names of songs. When I finished the book, I had to go back to the start to see what I'd missed. What a clever idea, and I especially enjoyed it given that I grew up when many of the songs she used saw regular airtime on the radio. Calle and her friends were well-developed characters. We didn't just see a side or two of them but were instead shown some strengths, flaws, and quirky traits. The awkwardness of high school is portrayed well. The author also shows us that even those who seem to have it all may be hiding dark and painful secrets. I would have loved this book as a teen and I enjoyed it very much as an adult. Definitely worth a read.

I downloaded this book because it was free. Its rating made me want to read it. I would recommend this book, even if you have to pay for it! It is definitely worth it. While a story of high schoolers, as a 30-something year old, I still enjoyed it. I like how the past was explained through memories that were attached to songs. One of the themes of this book was that nothing is ever as it appears on the surface. The characters all have depth and none are as they first seem. While not too deep, it was a good read with substance behind it. I became emotionally evolved, and any book that can do that gets my thumbs up!

I got this book for free on Kindle, and I believe this is the best free book I've ever read. It was only free for a short period of time, because I can see there's a price now, and believe me, this book is worth it. I loved the characters in this book, very realistic, with their own faults, quirks, and endearing points. The pacing of the story is very steady, and although there is no suspense, the characters and the stories behind them keep you reading.

Too predictable and too many useless secondary characters. Relationships spurt out of the blue. A story with a lot of potential.

Let me start off by saying that this is one of the best free books I have read on my kindle! Usually when I get a free book, I don't like it or it has some problem with it. This book is almost 'flawless'. If I could rate this book more than 5 stars, I would. Someone said in another review that it's good for adults and teens and that's true. It was a lovely and heart-touching book. I recommend this for everyone, no matter what your age!!!

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read with an interesting story line and well developed characters. I liked the introduction of a "musical memory" at the beginning of each chapter. It reconfirmed for me just how powerful music can be and the memories it can help cement in our minds. It is a book written for the young adult audience but, keeping this in mind, it is a pleasurable read for adults as well.

This book i thought was really good. It was about a girl named Calle who travels with her mom after every bf she dumps....so she thought, thats not the real reason they more. Her biological father has been trying to contact her every sice she was little but her mother wont let her...Calle finally gets to a school where she fits in with her song writing and her drama kids...the head of the football player falls for her...its a really good booooookkkk except the ending...the ending i didnt feel was strong enough...other than that i loved it

I only bought this book because of the musical references. I am a huge lover of all different kinds of music and this is what attracted me. I have long been attatching memories to songs, perhaps when a song plays when something happens and that song is forever tied to that event, or a song or its lyrics just remind you of something or someone. I thought it started off a little slow, you have to perservere, but once it got going it was very enjoyable. I found the stuff surrounding her father very interesting and felt the author wrote the mystery of that very well, however the ending where all of this was tied up fell a little flat for me, I just feel the author could have done more with this. However the characters were so well written I really could imagine them so well and I loved them all for ther little quirks and uniqueness. This for me is very important in a novel, I have to care about the characters, otherwise I wouldn't care what happens to them and bother to finish the book! I would recommend this to anyone. It won't change your life and it didn't leave me thinking about it for days afterwards, but it was very enjoyable and easy to read, probably ideal beach material, or lounging about the house. Nothing world changing but still very good.