Bina and Darcy are friends and bandmates, but Darcy thinks they need a drummer. They recruit Enzo, but they're an uncomfortable trio, especially once Darcy and Enzo start dating - and then kick Bina out of the band. To make matters worse, Bina's boy-next-door best friend Austin LIKE-likes her, and Bina isn't sure how she feels about him.

Quotes

"I'm not saying 'Don't be upset.' Be upset! But be productively upset." (Charlie to Bina, 81)

"It sounds like procrastination, but it's more like...INSPOcrastination. You can't force inspiration, but you can stack the deck in its favor." (Bina's mom, 89)

[Thought bubbles] How did this happen? Did I miss something? Does he really like me? Or is he just sad because Rosemary dumped him? If we date, and we break up, will he stop being my friend? Do I want to date him? I don't know! What's wrong with me? How can I not know that?! (110)

[Thought bubble] This sucks. If my songs aren't personal enough, they aren't good enough. If they're too personal, someone gets hurt. (129)

"You can let your origin story be a thing that happened to you. Or you can make yourself happen to the world, on your own terms. I know it's scary to walk away from something you really want, but you have to ask yourself, 'Is the timing right?'" (Bina's mom, 137)

"I hate that all this good stuff keeps coming to me....and I'm not ready for any of it." (170) ( )

Graphic Novel
Middle Grade

Bina is a middle school girl who wants a band, but somehow gets a boyfriend instead.

In this follow-up to All Summer Long (2018), Bina, now in eighth grade, has formed a band with new-girl Darcy and a loner named Enzo. Enzo and Darcy start dating, and Bina is suddenly dumped by her band mates. They reorganised the band as a duo. She turns to her neighbor and best friend , Austin. Austin has just split with his long-distance girlfriend. He is now acting more of a romantic friend and Bina isn’t sure she likes that. Does she really want her oldest friend to he her boyfriend? Everywhere she turns, it seems that everyone is obsessed with the dating scene. Bina simply wants to spend her time focusing solely on music. Yet Bina desires acceptance among her peers and feels pressured to present herself a certain way to achieve this acceptance. This causes her anxiety, and she struggles to be true to herself.

While the story is written and drawn Hope Larson the colorists are Sycamore and Edwards who have employed a sophisticated two-toned, muted rose-gold palette. Larson has an eye for diversity in her characters, including a range of skin tones, sexual orientations, and body types.

Since this is a novel geared to middle grade readers, I wish the mom comment during the camping trip would have been stated differently. Bina complained to her mom that she hasn’t even smoked weed. Her mom replied, “Good, let your brain mature before you start dumping garbage into it.” That statement seems to imply that using drugs is an expected part of her child’s future. ( )

3.5 ( )

Pleasant in the moment, I fear this low-key tale of angst and tension among members of a middle-school rock band will be as forgettable as the first volume in the long run, but I still want to read the next one. ( )