Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational

I'M WITH THE BAND

Kristen Gudsnuk Jen Colonita

Twelve-year-old Mackenzie “Mac” Lowell’s dreams have come true. Thanks to her mom scoring the coolest job EVER, Mac is going from boy band fanatic to official tour member of her favorite group, Perfect Storm. Good thing she’s brought along her journal so she can record every moment, every breath, and every one of lead singer Zander Welling’s killer smiles in written detail and daydreamy doodles.

But between a zillion tour stops and pranks gone wrong, Zander and his fellow band members, Heath Holland and Kyle Beyer, become more like brothers to Mac. When the boys’ differences start to drive them apart, can Perfect Storm’s biggest fan remind them why they’re perfect together? It’ll be up to Mac—and her comic-book alter ego, Mac Attack—to keep the band together and on the road to stardom. Chronicling her experiences on tour, Mac’s journal springs to life with black-and-white illustrations and comic-book panels throughout its pages. Jen Calonita is bummed she never got to go on the road with her favorite boy band growing up (New Kids on the Block), but she did eventually get to interview one of the band members when she became an entertainment editor. She’s also interviewed stars like Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé. Jen is the author of Secrets of My Hollywood Life series about a teen starlet who grows weary of the fame game but loves being an actress (sold in 10 territories). Jen has also published two stand-alone novels: Sleepaway Girls and Reality Check about best friends who get their own reality TV show, and most recently, the middle-grade series Fairytale Reform School.

Available products
Book Published 2015-12-01 by Little, Brown

Comments

Calonita captures squealing tween-girl excitement perfectly in this diary-style novel, but she makes sure being a fangirl isn’t Mac’s only M.O. Her ambitions to be an artist not only feature in the plot but also in its illustrations...”

There’s a lot to like in this series starter: Mac’s voice, snippets of her graphic novel, the authenticity, the humor, and the pacing. VERDICT: The diary format and many illustrations will entice fans of Rachel Renée Russell’s “Dork Diaries” (S&S) but should be appealing to a wide audience and will have tween readers eager for the next installment.

Calonita targets Directioners and other boy band devotees with this effervescent first book in the V.I.P. series... [with] exuberant comics sequences and spot illustrations throughout... The real meat of this diary-style story lies in the behind-the-scenes details of life on tour, as well as Mac’s relationships with the band members as she gets to know them as real people.

Written in diary entries and interspersed with vaguely manga-styled illustrations as well as some of Mackenzie's comic-book stories, this hits the sweet spot for fans of Dork Diaries. This tale of ultimate wish fulfillment is a must-read for starry-eyed fans of boy bands.

Cute boy banders? Backstage drama? And a butt-kicking comic book heroine? VIP: I’m with the Band is an all-access pass to fun! Don’t miss the debut of Jen Calonita’s delightful new series!

Best books of the Month (December 2015): Middle Grade

A fun read for middle school students... [who] can relate to Mac’s joy in writing in her journal.”