THIS BEATS PERFECT

Fresh YA debut; Rainbow Rowell's FANGIRL with One Direction, in a classic Girl meets Boy story

Amelie Ayres has impeccable taste in music. Bowie. Bush. Bob. So when she finds herself backstage at The Keep's only UK gig she expects to hate it; after all they are world's most tragic band. In fact she feels a grudging respect – not (obviously) for their music, but for the work that goes in to making them megastars. And when lead singer, ‘Maxx', is not dressed up as a cross between Elvis and a My Little Pony, he is actually rather normal, talented and has creative struggles not too dissimilar to her own.

But the next morning she wakes up rolls over and discovers a million new @'s on social media. Overnight a photo of her backstage has made her a subject of global speculation. Suddenly the world needs to know #Who'sThatGirl? — but for all the wrong reasons.

All Amelie wants is to play her music. She's got the guitar, the songs, the soul and, in the safety of her bedroom, she's got the voice. But when it comes to getting up on stage, she struggles with self-doubt.

Immaculate's a concept. Flawless is fake. But just sometimes music – and hearts — can rock a perfect beat.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca is 39 years old, lives in Hackney with a one year old, a trumpet, 2 guitars, a keyboard, and several vintage computer game consoles. She spent her career travelling the world making Music TV for MTV and Channel 4, and wrangling young adult audiences for the BBC and ITV. She's worked with Iggy Pop, MIA, Kaiser Chiefs, Sonic Youth, Jack White, Dirty Pretty Things, The Klaxons and the Magic Numbers to name just a few. She is now writing a second novel in the world of The Keep, A SECRET BEAT, and one more book for Atom.