One of my very favorite books of the year finally came out yesterday! I say finally because I read it back in November and have had to wait five months for it to be available to everyone to read, which I hope happens soon because I want to talk to people about it. Luckily, I’ve been able to have several students read it and talk with them about it, and they loved it, too. As soon as I finished the book, I declared it one of my favorites of 2014…and it wasn’t even 2014 yet.

Title: EXILE
Author: Kevin Emerson
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (a HarperCollins imprint)
Release Date: April 29, 2014
Number of Pages: 320
Source of Book: ARC from author/publisher at NCTE

          Catherine Summer Carlson knows how to manage bands like a professional—she’s a student at the PopArts Academy at Mount Hope High, where rock legends Allegiance to North got their start. Summer knows that falling for the lead singer of her latest band is the least professional thing a manager can do. But Caleb Daniels isn’t an ordinary band boy—he’s a hot, dreamy, sweet-singing, exiled-from-his-old-band, possibly-with-a-deep-dark-side band boy. And he can do that thing. That thing when someone sings a song and it inhabits you, possesses you, and moves you like a marionette to its will.
          Summer also finds herself at the center of a mystery she never saw coming. When Caleb reveals a secret about his long-lost father, one band’s past becomes another’s present, and Summer finds it harder and harder to be both band manager and girlfriend. She knows what the well-mannered Catherine side of her would do, but she also knows what her heart is telling her. Maybe it’s time to accept who she really is, even if it means becoming an exile herself. . . .
         On sale in April 2014, Kevin Emerson’s EXILE is a witty and passionate ode to love, rock and roll, and the freedom that comes in the moment when somebody believes in you, even if you’re not quite ready to believe in yourself.

To celebrate the release of Kevin Emerson’s newest book, EXILE, a contemporary book about rock and roll, romance, mystery, and figuring out how to belong, my review/recommendation/gushing thoughts about the book are posted on the Nerdy Book Club blog today. Head on over there to find out more about why you should read this amazing book!