A review by jbmorgan86
Solo by Mary Rand Hess, Kwame Alexander
2.0
I love Kwame Alexander. His books The Crossover and Booked have been two of the only books of poetry that my middle school students voluntarily read. That being said, Solo didn't live up to Alexander's previous works.
Like The Crossover and Booked, Solo is a novel written completely in verse. Like the previous two books, it's about a boy with an exceptional talent who has some family drama.
However, unlike the previous two books, Solo just felt corny and unbelievable. The story is absurd and the characters feel like caricatures. Blade is the son of a famous rock star drug addict. He is also a guitarist. He wrestles with his dad's drug problems and his family's lavish lifestyle.
It seems like Alexander googled "famous rock songs" and then tried to cram in every reference he possibly could (especially when Blade casually mentions when they saw Giraffe Tongue Orchestra live). Blade keeps list going of great rock songs throughout the book:
Lenny Kravitz - "Thinking if You"
Black Keys - "When the Lights Go Out"
Robert Johnson - "Crossroad Blues"
Bob Dylan - "I was Young When I Left Home"
Guns N Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Fela Kuti - "Zombie"
Don McLean - "American Pie"
Jimi Hendrix - "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Live)
U2 - "With or Without You"
Van Halen - "Right Now"
Aretha Franklin - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
Come on. What high school kid is going to listen to that wide range of music?
One last critique from a middle school teacher's perspective: I liked the previous two books because they were so good to use in the classroom. Solo is a bit more mature. Within the first few pages there are numerous drug, alcohol, and sexual references. If I let my students read this, I would probably get complaints from parents because of the content!
Like The Crossover and Booked, Solo is a novel written completely in verse. Like the previous two books, it's about a boy with an exceptional talent who has some family drama.
However, unlike the previous two books, Solo just felt corny and unbelievable. The story is absurd and the characters feel like caricatures. Blade is the son of a famous rock star drug addict. He is also a guitarist. He wrestles with his dad's drug problems and his family's lavish lifestyle.
It seems like Alexander googled "famous rock songs" and then tried to cram in every reference he possibly could (especially when Blade casually mentions when they saw Giraffe Tongue Orchestra live). Blade keeps list going of great rock songs throughout the book:
Lenny Kravitz - "Thinking if You"
Black Keys - "When the Lights Go Out"
Robert Johnson - "Crossroad Blues"
Bob Dylan - "I was Young When I Left Home"
Guns N Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Fela Kuti - "Zombie"
Don McLean - "American Pie"
Jimi Hendrix - "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Live)
U2 - "With or Without You"
Van Halen - "Right Now"
Aretha Franklin - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
Come on. What high school kid is going to listen to that wide range of music?
One last critique from a middle school teacher's perspective: I liked the previous two books because they were so good to use in the classroom. Solo is a bit more mature. Within the first few pages there are numerous drug, alcohol, and sexual references. If I let my students read this, I would probably get complaints from parents because of the content!