Tag: Mark Huntley Parsons

The Twelfth Day of YA

The Twelve Days of YAThis year on the Hub we are celebrating the Twelve Days of YA with a series of posts loosely based on the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas gifts. We have converted each gift into a related theme common to YA and paired it with a list of relevant titles. You may use the Twelve Days of YA tag to read all of the posts in the series.

Special thanks goes to Carli Spina, Faythe Arredondo, Sharon Rawlins, Geri Diorio, Becky O’Neil, Carla Land, Katie Yu, Laura Perenic, Jennifer Rummel, Libby Gorman, Carly Pansulla, Anna Dalin, and Allison Tran for their help creating the booklists and organizing this series.

On the twelfth day of YA, my true love gave to me twelve drummers drumming.

For our final day of YA we are returning to a musical theme. Day four included a wider variety of music themes, but today we are focused entirely on YA lit that includes musicians. We’ve gone a little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll, so there should be something in here for everyone. We hope you enjoy the rock stars that we picked and encourage you to share your favorites in the comments!

      

      

Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie   Open Road Summer   The Scar Boys

Being Friends with Boys    Where She Went    The Piper's Son

– Jessica Lind, currently reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Jukebooks: Road Rash by Mark Huntley Parsons

Road Rash by Mark Huntley ParsonsDumped by his band, drummer Zach faces a long summer working at Johnson’s Yard Supply. The rhythm picks up again when Zach is offered a place with the band Bad Habit just as they start on a tour. It’s not quite the ride Zach expects. (Think spandex and cover tunes.) But along the way, Zach learns how to work as a team, how to speak his mind, and how to cherish a very special girl.

When Zach first goes to hear Bad Habit play, he’s blown away by “…their own twisted update…” of “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” first recorded by Lenny Kravitz in 1993. Kravitz is himself a one-man musical magician. Kravitz produced and co-wrote “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” singing both lead and back-up vocals. He could play guitar, percussion, and keyboards. But he’s also well-known for his extravagant music videos and stage performances. The video below won Kravitz the 1993 MTV Music Video Award for Male Vocalist.

-Diane Colson, currently reading Everything Breaks by Vicki Grove.