(Review) Songs For a Teenage Nomad

Title: Songs For a Teenage Nomad
Author: Kim Culbertson
Pub Date: August 2010
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 245

Source: I received a finish copy of the book from Sourcebooks Fire for an honest review.

About the book:
What is the soundtrack of your life?

After living in twelve places in eight years, Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Another new home, another new school…Calle knows better than to put down roots. Her song journal keeps her moving to her own soundtrack, bouncing through a world best kept at a distance.

Yet before she knows it, friends creep in—as does an unlikely boy with a secret. Calle is torn over what may be her first chance at love. With all that she’s hiding and all that she wants, can she find something lasting beyond music? And will she ever discover why she and her mother have been running in the first place?

This is Kim’s debut YA novel. When I first heard about the book I wanted to read it because it sounded so good and I wasn’t disappointed either.

I have to say that one of my favorite things about Songs For a Teenage Nomad was all the song references that were made in the book. Callie was a music junkie (just like me) and every chapter started a song title or lyrics or artist name/band. Music is a huge theme behind this book.

Calle’s life isn’t a typical teenagers life. She has been in over twelves places in eight years (she is only in grade nine) and no she isn’t a military kid. Its by her own mother’s doing. Whenever something happens in her mother’s life (marriage, divorce etc) and she needs to leave she takes out the map of California and throws a penny on it and where ever it lands is where they head to next.

So for Calle the only things that remain the same in her life is her love of music, her diskman and her song journal. For Calle its important to document the songs that have impacted her life because each songs reflects a time in Calle’s life.

When Calle ends up in Andreas Bay, California Calle begins to hope that this will be the final resting stop for her and her mom and that they will finally stop running away from the world. Calle has always felt like an outsider because she was always the new girl but being in Andreas Bay Calle begins to let her guard down and she is enjoying school, making friends and possibly getting her first boyfriend too.

In regards to boyfriends there is two boys involved, Sam and Elie. I didn’t like the relationship between Calle and Sam and wanted to go in the book and tell her so because Sam wasn’t the guy for her. He treated her like crap and she went back time and time again. I know its hard when you like someone to see what they are really like and no matter what anyone tells you, you don’t see that. Isn’t it funny how what we ever really need is right in front of us?

Being a mother my heart went out to Calle because that is what she needed a mother who would put Calle first and not herself. Calle’s mother was constantly running away from her problems and secrets. She never told Calle anything about the past no matter how hard Calle tried to ask her. Personally I think Calle should have known what was going on.

Sadly it takes Calle to snoop and discover things to make her mother talk but even then her mother was more upset at the fact that she was snooping and going through her things then telling her daughter the truth. Will she eventually tell Calle what she wants to know?

I loved how at the end of the book Kim tells the reader how they can make their own song journal. Personally for me whenever I hear a song it brings me back to certain events in my life that I will always cherish.

Some of the songs that are a part of my Song Journal are:
~Don’t Stop Believing by Journey
~Girls Just Wanna Have by Cyndi Lauper
~I knew I loved You by Savage Garden
~Perfect by Pink
~Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys and Jay Z

What is the songs that bring back memories for you?