Parents' Guide to

Exile, Book 1

By Mary Cosola, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Fast, fun trip with teen rock band manager, star boyfriend.

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EXILE is a light, fun journey into the excitement of young love and rock 'n' roll. Author Kevin Emerson realistically depicts how hard it is for a performing artist to bare his soul and share his work with the public. The book also captures the thrill of discovering music you love as a teenager. The music industry and those who run it are presented realistically, for good and bad. The story speeds along and is best when we see Caleb uncover his family history and thus learn more about himself.

The speed with which Summer and Caleb fall in love is barely believable, as are the state-of-the-art facilities in the music academy at their public school. The school is supposed to be falling apart because of funding issues, but somehow it has practice spaces, espresso machines, and professional-quality music and video-production gear. And, although it's understandable for Summer to be upset over getting dumped as manager of her former band, it's unrealistic of her to expect to be professional manager when she's only 17. But overall, the story's an enjoyable light read.

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