Band Geeked Out

Band Geek #2

by Josie Bloss

College Application Ellie Snow 18 Intended ??? Why do you want to attend Covington? Well, the truth is I don't really know what I want. My plan was to attend State, close to my family, friends, and (slightly clingy) boyfriend and become a high school band director like I always dreamed. But when I visited your campus, I liked everything about it―especially Alex, the cool girl who showed me around. So now I have to stick with what I know? Or go to a school far away with zero marching bands . . . but one Alex and tons of new possibilities? Sound-off praise for Band Geek Love : "[Ellie is] refreshingly real and honest."― KLIATT "Hits all of the right notes."―Little Willow, slayground.livejournal.com "A memorable cast of characters that jump off the page."― SLJTeen

Genres: Young Adult, Music, Contemporary

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Josie Bloss grew up in East Lansing, Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan, where she was a member of the best college marching band in the country and a staff reporter for the Michigan Daily.

After obtaining a degree in Political Science, she tried to decide if she wanted to be a lawyer while wrangling paper in several large Chicago law firms that are attempting to take over the world. Finding herself uninspired by global domination, she decided to relocate to somewhere more quiet and write instead.

When not mining her high school journals for material and wishing there were marching band options for adults, Josie enjoys karaoke and acting in plays.

She lives in Bloomington, IN

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a complete waste of time. As a member of the female gender, I am offended by Ellie to the nth degree. She is seriously one of the worst female characters I've ever read about in my life. As a long-term band geek (14 years playing, 9 marching: ha! suck it, Ellie) and a member of a 380-member marching band (which is so much more awesome than Ellie's measley 255-member college band), I'm offended at the portrayal of band kids in this novel. I hate Alex. I hate Alex's friends. I hate that Ellie's parents are completely oblivious. I hate that Ellie is a terrible person (she sucks so much, it's worth mentioning twice). I hate that Connor was made simultneously into a pansy AND a douche. And finally, the absolute WORST aspect of this novel that I hated the most: the number of times Ellie calls someone "dude." I swear, if I had read it one more time, I really think I would have been incited to do violence. Save yourself the trouble and pass on this. If you want a GOOD marching band novel, do yourself a favor and read Jennifer Echols' Major Crush. It, unlike this drivel, is delightful, charming, fun, sweet, and exciting.

Actually, about half an hour after I posted my review, I realized one more problem I have: I hate Bloss's portrayal of teen sexuality (also, the drinking bothered me, but it was mostly the sexuality). First, there is this issue of Ellie's possible homosexuality. I just don't really think Ellie's sudden foray into the land of the ladies is realistic. Then again, I'm not gay so I don't have any experience with those kinds of feelings. What I most have a problem with in this subplot is how Alex makes such a fuss over the girls who experiment and the ones who encourage them and then she does the exact same thing to Ellie. Sure, Alex is a liar, but I feel like this is just an example of contradictory poor writing and character development. I have no idea what Alex's motivations are for treating Ellie the way she does, especially in a romantic and sexual manner. Alex is too much of a mystery and is way too flat to pull off such a large subplot.

Next, there was the heinous inclusion of the midnight blow job. If you want a good example of an appropriate and well-written blow job, please see John Green's Looking for Alaska. If you want a bad example, see Band Geeked Out. Yes, I am conservative, but I approve of sex in books when it adds something to the book. This seemed, like the lesbian inclusion, like an attempt to shock the reader, rather than an attempt to portray how sex really fits into teen relationships. In this case, Ellie is not a strong enough character to pull this off. She has no point of view. I can't imagine someone who has such a large stick up her rear as Ellie would be convinced to suddenly start drinking copious amounts of vodka and rum and then decide to run straight to third with her very underage boyfriend.

Ugh. That age difference, while it didn't really get to me in Band Geek Love, made me very uncomfortable here. Ellie does have a responsibility to Connor and she throws that away. Quite frankly, I'm thrilled Connor dumped her because it showed he had backbone and that he actually cared about Ellie and himself to do the right thing. Too bad it didn't last and he became Ellie's sniveling "little boy" in the end. But I digress. This scene was not a good fit, but it's not a good novel so I suppose it doesn't matter quite as much. The other thing that really bothers me is that neither of these issues is ever really resolved. I feel, as a reader, that the author didn't bother to conclude her plots in the interest of the reader. Again, it's just more bad writing.

Teen sexuality is a tricky thing. We do begin to search for our true identity and purpose once we reach our teens and, despite what Alex says, that includes our sexuality. Books can often help us find answers when we relate to this character or that. I'm concerned with sexuality in Band Geeked Out because I think many teens would just find this to be confusing. That's completely understandable because this novel is quite simply a hot mess. I'm not sure what Bloss was trying to accomplish with this novel, but if it was to put out a well written novel exploring sexuality and the future in a realistic way, she failed.

[Yan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Remember my rant about the Conner and Ellie duo? It’s back with a whole new fire. Okay so the last book the relationship was not all too good but it had its moments that made me smile. In the sequel, however, all I could do was cringe and shake my head. It was a rollercoaster of bad decisions, awkward conversations, and an abrupt breakup that later defended…somewhat.

Ellie was beyond annoying here. Selfish, selfish, selfish. It she could not get her way then watch out, Hurricane Ellie is blowing in.

Alex is…I do not even know where to start with her. So pass.
I end up skimming quite a few of the pages and skip some dialogues. Especially those that were on IM—really do not like those. A lot of it seems cluttered and choking. It did however give more depth to Ellie. You got to see more of her vulnerable side. Her bond between friends, her obligations to her parents, her desire to find what her dream is.

[Shawna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I read book two since I didn't love book one. This book made me feel uncomfortable (although the main character made the right choices in the end), and I should have stopped after the first book.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

So...this book definitely wasn't what I expected. The "Out" in the title should have been a clue. :| Still, I read the whole thing in one evening.

[Steen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest. I didn't finish this, because I got mad at it. I have nothing to say.

[Lizzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, the first one was 100 times better. PLUS the ending was horrific. Why couldn't she have just stayed with Connor. They were PERFECT together. Whatever, I'm done.

[Shawnta · Rating 4 out of 5]

As most of my friends are on unemployment, underemployed, or “freelancing”, during most worldly encounters, including reading, I have begun to take notice to the ways in which folks make money in the world. Now, reading a piece of young adult fiction is less about the contours of a remarkable story, and more about the audacity of its author. Before reading the book’s description and accollades on the back cover or inside jacket, I first go to the author’s bio and study her photograph. Vanity overrides my better judgement: I question her beauty, her smarts in choice of photographer, her boldness for allowing her face to be so mutilated by onlookers like myself, and question her economic well-being as a result of my touching her book. How could I not? For all of my reading pleasures, I must acknowledge that I’m keeping someone employed, that by reading this title, I’m actively not sustaining some other aspiring best-selling author.

This week, I’ve sustained the closely cropped, red-headed Josie Bloss. Her bio sold me, because she left her position in law to relocate to a quiet town, (likely with a cushioned savings account) to write books…really, she is living my dream. The best part, is that she mentions her truest love, BAND, yes, as in marching band. So still, someone as ballsy as her, still has unrelinqished potential. As authors go, Bloss passes my litmus test for worthy-to-be-read, but I still have questions regarding her sexual politics.

An example of what I mean, is that for a young adult novel, I was surprised by the blow-job, but not even a single girl-on-girl grope. I mean, the premise was about band, but the underlying story asked, does she pick the girl, or does she pick the guy. I’m always routing for the girl, of course. And as I read on, I consulted with friends who often teased, “what, does the lesbian die in the end?”

Not your standard contemporary pulp novel, Bloss was able to outline the inner turmoils of the “questioning” generation. Beyond the ultimate question of, what do I do with my life, (which Obama would call a high-class problem to have), when your parents have a trust-fund for you to pick the college of your choice, of course the next question would be, “do I date this even cooler girl?”

Perhaps the novel led me to wonder if I was tired of reading the story from the perspective of the questioning. Contemporary references of Lindsay Lohan aside, I found myself wanting a deeper analysis of character distinction. Although as easy to read as a blog, one-dimensional characters shouldn’t have identity crises beyond what to wear.

I recommend this book to teens who are unsure of which paths to choose. But still, I wonder, are we still in the age of classic pulp, where the dyke dies as she aims to lure the young voluptuous maiden? Plainly, should we continue to endorse young adult novels with lesbian characters, where the questioning girl doesn’t love the lesbian in the end? And I ask this, even with respect to the audacious author who gives us new hope for an employable future.

Blog originally published for Paradigm Shift:
http://www.paradigmshiftnyc.com/femin...

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all I'd like to point out that I did not know that this was sequel, I did not feel like it was a sequel when I was reading and when I found the first book at the library I had assumed that it was the second book because the one I was reading could not possibly be a second book. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but the book was good, even as a complete stand alone.
This book was not what I thought it was gonna, it was better. I expected it to be very basic, but it wasn't. It had some turns that were surprising, that I actually could see coming but other people might not.
But there were some bad points... I did not like how Ellie reacted to the break up. She seemed to think it was perfectly okay to call him a jerk and stuff just because he broke up with her. Yes it was on prom night and that might have seemed mean but really she pushed it out of him and he had obviously not wanted to bring it up right then. And it would have been okay if she had realized later that he hadn't done anything terrible and apologized for acting like a jerk herself but she never did.
Also I saw for the start that Alex was not good, not necessarily bad but sort of manipulative as Ellie says in the end.
So yes overall this was a okay/good book that I had not even suspected could be a sequel.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Band Geek Love, which I read over a year ago for the title alone. I don't remember a ton of details about that book, other than what I wrote in my review of it, but this follow-up was much more enjoyable. Ellie, still a trumpet-playing, trumpeter-dating band geek, is torn between two colleges, one that's close to home and has a marching band and the other an all-girls liberal arts college a day's drive away.

Ellie gets a little annoying at times, since she's holding in a lot of pent-up anger and doesn't seem to know how to properly communicate with others, but she was likable overall. One of my complaints about the first book was that it felt like nothing happened; thankfully, stuff actually did happen in this book, and it felt like the plot progressed at a nice pace, even though it was a fairly simple story overall. There was great character development, and I liked the way things were resolved in the end; things didn't tie up overly neatly, but the ending was fitting.

[Brittni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the first book, Band Geek Love. It was cute and I liked that it related to band. But, after reading the sequel, I felt it was completely unnecessary, as Ellie's character became SO annoying. The book gave off a weird vibe and seemed really unrealistic. The second book had NOTHING to do with band, other than the fact that Ellie was choosing between a college with a band and a college without one. In all fairness, I did read the book rather quickly because it kept my attention, but I didn't really enjoy it. It's a shame because I think there should be more books that focus on marching band and band geeks, but this series just didn't really do it for me.

[Kirsten Reilly]

This book ois about a girl trying to decide which college to got to and all the other descsions that go along with that. throughout the book she is visiting a college woth her family tha tleads to her meeting a new "friend". Throughout this book she will make the hardest descion of her life levae her friends and attain new expierences or stay and enjoy the people she always had.
This book will taking you on a very relatable journey through the point of a teenage girl. the author does a very good job of making it relateable. This book did not hold my attention very well but was a quick and easy weekend read.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still not a fan of Ellie or Connor but this one was slightly better.

[Stasia Kehoe]

An interesting romp through the world of a trumpet-playing teen trying to decide what role band should play in her future.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay book--I finished it, but not good enough to get me to read the rest of the series, and not good enough to get me to hold on to it and loan it to others.

[Destiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoyable although, I admit, not as enjoyable as the first. I was disappointed at the end, but I appreciated the real life applications. Plus, Connor is single! ;-)

[Olivia]

i didnt like this book at all... i have read the other book in the series already and i didnt like that one either...

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

very funny this book is the best

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

umm it was okay, it wasnt as good as the first book