Review: Audition and Subtraction

"All's fair in love, war and band auditions"

 

I would be lying if I said the title had nothing to do with my decision to read this book. I am a math teacher and the title is so close to ‘addition and subtraction’ that I was immediately drawn to it! Then I found of it was written by Amy Fellner Dominy and I was sold!

Amy Fellner Dominy and I at TLA 2012!

This story is about a 14 year old girl, Tatum, whose world is turned upside down when a new boy shows up at school and seems to take everything away from her. She had been planning on taking the third spot in the District Honor Band until he came along and tried to take it away from her. Not only is he ruining her band life, but he is trying to turn her best friend against her. What is a girl supposed to do when her best friend sides with her boyfriend instead of her?

This book was a quick read and I loved it! Being an 8^th grade teacher, I felt like I saw a lot of my students represented in this book. There is the girl who has been overweight her whole life and has recently been able to slim down, the guy who is in love with a friend who doesn’t have a clue, the boy who just can’t seem to do anything to get his dad’s attention, and the girl who wants to hide out in her best friend’s shadow. This book had some great moments where I was able to connect with the character because I had been in that situation before. This is a book that I will most certainly be putting in my classroom library and recommending to my students. Not only is it a cute story, but I think everyone can learn from the mistakes that are being made during the course of the book.

-"Audition and Subtraction" by Amy Fellner Dominy

-Expected publication: September 2012 by Walker & Company