IZ THE APOCALYPSE

Fourteen-year-old Isabelle Beaufort is all-too-familiar with the foster care system.

In her short life, she has been in 26 homes and 14 schools. Now in eighth grade, Iz discovers the Métier School, a private international high school for musically gifted young people. Iz, who taught herself to play a guitar she found in a dumpster, hatches a plan to get herself into the prestigious school by forging transcripts and recommendations. When her plan succeeds, she faces new challenges—lying to her foster mother, explaining her lack of formal musical training to the Métier faculty, and finding tuition money. Even as she begins to chafe under the burden of her lies, Iz experiences a completely different life. Now she has friends, a job, and a support system, although she struggles in her new milieu as well. The largely more privileged Métier students make jokes and have conversations that only those with insider musical knowledge will understand. This feel-good story asks readers to suspend disbelief but also sheds light on the plight of many young people caught up in the foster care system. Iz has flashbacks to something traumatic that happened at a former home she calls “That Place,” but she finds healing and catharsis through songwriting and music. Iz reads white; there is ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.

A compassionate, character-driven story that will particularly resonate with music lovers.