Benway, Robin.
AUDREY, WAIT!
New York : Razorbill, 2008
IL YA
ISBN: 159514191X 

(3 booktalks)

Sixteen-year-old Audrey loves downloading music from her favorite bands, going to clubs to hear them play, and hanging out with her BFF, Victoria. What she doesn't love doing any more is being with her boyfriend Evan, a musician who thinks only about himself and his music career. Audrey dumps him and doesn't turn back, literally, even when he calls her name. Little did she know how that one action would change her life. Evan pens a song about the episode which becomes a hit, launching the band onto the charts and Audrey into a world of hounding paparazzi, word-twisting reporters, and undiminished notoriety.

All Audrey wants to do is go to school, spend time with her new boyfriend James, and get ready for senior year, but every time she turns around, someone is playing that song. Audrey has to find a way to return her life to normal without losing Victoria or James in the process.

(BookTalk submitted by Susan Fichtelberg http://www.encounteringenchantment.com), a children's librarian at Woodbridge Public Library and the author of Encountering Enchantment: A Guide to Speculative Fiction for Teens. December, 2008)   (Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee, 2010)

Booktalk #2

Have you ever listened to the radio and heard some guy singing about some girl who hurt him? You know what the guy thinks. He’s hurt, he wants her back (or maybe not), he’s angry, he can’t live without her, and maybe he’s glad she’s gone. You never hear the girl’s take on things. Well, this is finally that girl’s side of the story. Audrey was dating Evan, who is in a band called the Do-Gooders. When they break up, well, when Audrey breaks up with Evan, Evan is inspired to write Audrey, Wait!, aka The Song, The Song that changes Audrey’s life forever. At first she thought they’d just play The Song at one live show in their small town, but then suddenly radio stations across the country have picked it up, the Do-Gooders are touring in Japan, and MTV is premiering their video. Audrey never wanted to be famous, but now she has people discussing her life on internet message boards and following her around with cameras. Singers from other bands want to date her, just for the song inspiration. Audrey is quickly losing control of her life. What Audrey needs is to learn to start making her own choices, and with the help of her best friend Victoria and that guy she works with at the Scooper Dooper, James (why did she never notice him before?), she just might make it through her more than 15 minutes of fame. (Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2011)
 

Booktalk #3

Audrey breaks up with her boyfriend Evan the day he is playing a big concert. He writes a song about the break up, and that evening a scout hears the song and picks up the band and poof – Audrey’s name is all over the radio. And everyone knows her. And everyone hates her – she’s the girl who hurt Evan, and everyone has a crush on Evan now! Audrey just got famous.

This story is written as if Audrey was a real person writing a tell-all explanation of her side of the story. I loved it for the dialog and the fact that Audrey isn’t excited about being famous, she just wants to move on with her life and forget her stupid ex-boyfriend!   (Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2011)