Battle of the Bands

By Lauren Gibaldi

Book Overview

Fifteen young adult authors and one real-life rock star band together for one epic--and interconnected--take on a memorable high school rite of passage.

A daughter of rock 'n' roll royalty has a secret crush. A lonely ticket taker worries about his sister. An almost-famous songwriter nurses old wounds. A stage manager tires of being behind the scenes. A singer-songwriter struggles to untangle her feelings for her best friend and his girlfriend. In this live-out-loud anthology, the disparate protagonists of sixteen stories are thrown together for one unforgettable event: their high school's battle of the bands. Told in a harmonic blend of first- and third-person narrative voices, roughly chronological short stories offer a kaleidoscopic view of the same transformative night. Featuring an entry from Justin Courtney Pierre, lead vocalist of Motion City Soundtrack, Battle of the Bands is a celebration of youth, music, and meeting the challenges of life head-on.

With stories by
Brittany Cavallaro
Preeti Chhibber
Jay Coles
Katie Cotugno
Lauren Gibaldi
Shaun David Hutchinson
Ashley Poston
Jenny Torres Sanchez
Sarah Nicole Smetana
Eric Smith
Jenn Marie Thorne
Sarvenaz Taghavian
Jasmine Warga
Ashley Woodfolk
Jeff Zentner
and featuring Motion City Soundtrack's Justin Courtney Pierre.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1536214337
• ISBN13: 9781536214338
• Release Date: September 2021
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher