Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 01/01/2011 “I wish I were as famous as the Beatles,” moans defeated high-school musician Regina after the band she founded, the Caverns, breaks up. In this breezy wish-fulfillment tale, Regina wakes up to much more than standard pop-star celebrity. As her fairy godmother informs her via messages flashed on her computer screen, the Beatles’ entire songbook is now attributed to the Caverns. Should Regina stay in this wild reality or return to her old life? During a single packed L.A. week, Regina tries to step into her celebrity life, which includes a weaselly, smooth-talking agent; a reunion with her mother, who left the family years earlier; and a gorgeous TV-star boyfriend, for whom Regina dumped her former-life crush. Teens will likely skim over the fantasy’s shaky logistical questions and enjoy the vicarious view of stardom’s perks and pitfalls, which Taylor deepens with Regina’s lingering, real-world sorrow over her parents’ divorce. Already optioned for film, this should have easy appeal to fans of music-fueled novels, such as Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006). - Copyright 2011 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 02/01/2011 Beyond grumpy over the fact that her band, the Caverns, is breaking up, Regina makes a wish that she could be as famous as the Beatles. When she wakes up the next morning, her wish has come true-the Beatles have never existed, and the Caverns are Grammy-bound with their first album, a selection of Beatles hits, and they’re about to record their second. A cryptic message on Regina’s computer lets her know the rules-she can sample the lifestyle of fame and glory for a week, but if she accepts the Grammy Award, history changes, and Regina Bloomsbury and the Caverns replace the Beatles forever. Although it’s Regina’s fantasy, everyone around her has been living it for the past year, so she has a lot of catching up and faking to do. Apparently, during that year she has also become a demanding diva, so her band is still in danger of losing a member or two, only now it doesn’t matter, since she is the one “writing” the songs that changed the face of rock ’n’ roll. This is where the premise falls apart, and what fantasy and rock fans alike will likely not forgive: the Beatles are not simply an episode in the history of rock, they are a sine qua non of that history. In Regina’s fantasy, the contemporary music scene is no different for not having them in it until the 21st century, and the only nod she makes to their influence is when she finds a Monkees CD and notes that they couldn’t have existed without the Beatles. While becoming suddenly famous is a compelling enough fantasy to give this some appeal, the flaws in the fantasy logic set up too many roadblocks, and the lesson learned at the end-to believe in your own music-is underdeveloped and shows up without warning. Readers interested in the ups and downs of sudden fame would be better off with Benway’s Audrey, Wait (BCCB 4/08), but those with a fascination for the music biz and a taste for megastardom may still be intrigued by Regina’s quandary. KC - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 04/01/2011 Gr 9 Up—Teenage musician and Beatlemaniac Regina Bloomsbury disappears into an alternative world when, frustrated with her high school bandmates, she makes a bedtime wish to be as popular as the Fab Four. When Regina wakes to discover that she and her band, the Caverns, are not only world-famous rock stars, but that they have also replaced the Beatles in rock-and-roll history, she is both grateful and dismayed. While she and the Caverns have achieved recognition, infighting among them inspired in part by Regina's stealing the spotlight leads to tension and the threat of group dissolution. And while she believes in the music of the Beatles enough to consider her new position as a conduit of their work something of an honor, she questions the price of this privilege. Taylor peppers his novel with a number of set pieces familiar to readers of the teen-celebrity novel: there are the obligatory scenes involving paparazzi and a brief romance with a teenage heartthrob who turns out to be much less appealing than the character he plays on television. These tropes don't overwhelm the story, which focuses more on Regina's musicianship, performances, and internal world than on the cosmetic aspects of fame. While the novel concludes predictably, its secondary focus on Regina's relationship with her father—particularly as it is threatened by the appearance of her estranged mother—and her discovery of other famous bands that were living through "replacements" provide some depth to the narrative.—Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.