Songs About a Girl

After being approached by the massively popular boy band Fire&Lights, 16-year-old Charlie Bloom reluctantly becomes their backstage photographer. Promised anonymity, Charlie begins to bond with the young band members, who recently catapulted to fame after winning a TV competition, and is drawn into their charm and genuineness. When the band drops a new single, a shaken Charlie realizes that the lyrics mirror those inked in her mother’s journal, written years before the car accident that ended her life. As Charlie develops relationships with two vocalists, kindhearted Olly and damaged Gabriel, she attempts to unravel the mystery of her mother’s veiled past and connection to Fire&Lights. Confronting the fickleness of fame and the damaging effects of rumors and harassment, Russell’s debut is highly relevant in an age of social media furors and the constant churn of news. Charlie’s burgeoning interest in two very different partners highlights the complexities of attraction, but her relationships with women—including her best friend, late mother, and the school bully—are perhaps the most compelling. Russell concludes with many questions unresolved; readers will be eager for the story’s continuation. Ages 12–up. (May)