Guitar Notes (review)

Tripp and Lyla have a lot in common—their love of music, their experience of losing a parent (Lyla's mom when she was six, Tripp's dad a couple years ago), their quiet discontent with their lives. The schoolmates don't meet, however, until they're assigned to use the same practice room on alternating days. What starts as a passive-aggressive exchange of notes about etiquette (Tripp leaves some trash on the music stand) grows into a genuine correspondence and finally an in-person friendship, with the two bonding over music, private fears, and mutual songwriting inspiration, all in secret from parents who'd rather Tripp was pulling up his dismal grades and Lyla continuing to focus on her promising cello career. This tale of unlikely but desperately needed connection pulls all the right strings, drawing both protagonists out of their unhappy shells so gradually that their climactic duet performance at a wedding feels as cathartic as it is earned. Though the eleventh-hour twist takes things over the top, it's otherwise a familiar formula done well. Amato brings these characters to life with pitch-perfect detail and wrenching anxieties that will resonate strongly with readers. Reviewed from an unillustrated galley.