Beige (review)

Two weeks in Los Angeles with her estranged punk rocker father "the Rat" seems like an interminable sentence to Katy, who'd rather be with her mother on an archaeological excavation in South America. The Rat's old band, Suck, is poised to make a comeback, and everyone is somehow immersed in the music scene, leaving musically disinclined Katy not only bored, but looking hopelessly naïve and ignorant. The Rat does what he can in his unpracticed fashion to make her feel at home, setting her up with Lake, the daughter of a band member, as a temporary pal. But Lake is trying to get her own girl band launched and has neither the time nor the sympathy to make Katy feel welcome—she can make herself useful with the band or get the heck out of the way. Polite, Canadian Katy provides a comedic contrast to the world of punk rock, and popular author Castellucci gives her heroine an enjoyably readable voice. There's absolutely no mystery to what direction this saga will take, though—of course, Mom can't come home as scheduled; of course, Katy will finally get to like her grubby father and his goofy but tenderhearted girlfriend; of course, Lake and Katy will become best buds—and contrivance becomes just silly with Katy's sudden leap onto the stage to sing backup for Lake (whose band members have deserted her just before their debut appearance). YAs in search of funnier or edgier musical fare should therefore cue up Korman's Born to Rock (BCCB 4/06), Going's Fat Kid Rules the World (BCCB 6/03), or Cohn's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (BCCB 6/06), but Katy's sardonic take on the summer's events will draw middle-schoolers along for quick, undemanding read.