IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS

A decision backfires, putting the marching band and Yasmín’s dreams in jeopardy.

Yasmín Treviño is a Type A personality, a Mexican American sophomore with high academic ambitions who is nothing if not determined. After her freshman year was ruined by Hurricane Humphrey, which hit her Texas town, Yasmín is sure that this will be the year when she turns everything around. Specifically, she aims to conquer what has been her main goal since fourth grade: moving beyond second chair flute to become first chair—even though her best friend, Sofia Palacios, has always held that spot. After Yasmín reports a bullying incident at a band camp party and, with it, the fact that there were minors drinking alcohol, everyone in the low brass section gets suspended, leaving the band’s chances of success in an upcoming competition in serious jeopardy. To help salvage things, Yasmín volunteers when their band director asks for people to switch instruments, but learning the sousaphone goes less than swimmingly. Although there are strengths to the narrative, in particular the exploration of online interactions, Yasmín is not sufficiently compelling as the book’s lead, and the slow pace may hinder engagement. The rivalry with her best friend is, in Sofia’s words, “way past cute,” and readers are not offered enough moments of Yasmín’s support of Sofia for their friendship to feel earned. A romantic subplot emerges later in the story, and through it, the book explores aromantic and asexual identities.

Lacking in heart.