From Jon Skovron (author of Misfit), we have Struts & Frets.
It's a story about Sam. He loves music, is trying to understand girls and wants to keep his family together. Sam's dream is to win the upcoming battle of the bands and turn his best friend into his girlfriend (without any weirdness).
First he must deal with a few issues; his Grandfather, the lead singer's temper, his hormones, and those catastrophes you can never plan for and that always seem to hit at the worst possible times.
Struts & Frets is a great book - it's very funny and well written. You might spot the the chapter titles are all names of songs. It's a great story about music, friendship and having the courage to live your dreams. (It's also very cheap, only $7.95!)
Secondly, we have The Zigzag Effect from Australian author Lili Wilkinson. (You might know her books Love-shy and A Pocketful of Eyes).
Sage has just moved with her family from Queensland to Melbourne.So that she can pay for a summer photography course, she gets a holiday job working for The Great Armand - an excellent but ageing magician. At the theatre she meets the beautiful assistant Bianca, and the very cute stagehand, Herb.
One evening Sage, Herb and Bianca are staying late at the theatre and a wand gets broken on stage. Bianca sees this as a bad omen and is convinced that they have brought a curse upon themselves. Things start to happen, and when someone goes missing Sage must figure out who she can trust, who is keeping secrets and what is misdirection and trickery...
The Zigzag Effect is a fantastic holiday read. Plus it's set in Melbourne which is always a bonus. Sage is an awesome character, and you get to learn a bit about stage magic along the way.
