Product Description

Seventeen-year-old Molly Montgomery never planned on becoming famous. Molly's band, The Hormones, was just supposed to be about mucking around with her best mates, Jane and Tara, and having fun. But when the deliciously dangerous Dean and his friend T join the band, things start happening fast. Soon The Hormones are front-page news, and their debut album is rocketing up the charts. Molly is the force behind the band, but the hazards of fame, first love, screaming fans, and sleazy managers are forcing the newly crowned teen queen of grrl angst close to the edge. Fame never comes for free, and Molly's about to find out what it costs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #570466 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780142403181
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Sex, drugs, and rock & roll... a common high-school fantasy, right? In British author Sarra Manning's debut novel Guitar Girl, this oft-trumpeted triple-temptation proves to be terribly trying for a budding pop star. Molly Montgomery and her friends Tara and Jane live largely unnoticed until they form a fledgling girl band that will "be part of the new girl revolution." Fragile-yet-feisty Molly writes songs about Hello Kitty and boy crushes because that's the stuff of her world--a childhood closely guarded by her "crunchy granola," rule-oriented parents she dramatically deems "power-crazed fascists." But when her band is joined by a couple of older boys and attracts the attention of a fancy manager, "The Hormones" start racing--big gigs, an American tour, the whole bit. During her wild ride to stardom, Molly gets her first kisses from both a boy and a girl, gets drunk for the first time (but not the last), and loses her virginity and her sense of self, too. Any teenager who romanticizes celebrity will get a good dose of the reality of drug overdoses, morning-after pills, legal battles, exploitation, humiliation, and exhaustion with Guitar Girl...still, Manning manages to communicate the rush of wowing an audience and the joy and power of music through the often bittersweet, often bitingly funny voice of Molly. For a variation on the same theme, investigate Rachel Cohn's Pop Princess. (Ages 13 and older) --Karin Snelson

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-Molly, 17, never planned to reach pop stardom. She just enjoyed writing songs and playing music with her friends, Jane and Tara. When they start a rock band called The Hormones, two slightly older guys, T and Dean, maneuver their way into the group, and there is no looking back. Suddenly famous, Molly takes off on tour with the band, performing in England and eventually in the United States. Despite Dean and Molly's frequent confrontations, they fall in love. They have plenty of tender and passionate sex (protection isn't mentioned), until she learns that his motivation for the relationship hasn't been totally honest. Finally determining that rock-star life is less than idyllic, Molly chooses to call it quits, despite lawsuit threats. The story's carefully developed characters and relationships, driven by tuned-in dialogue, make it realistic and compelling. Molly's first-person voice rings clear and true. Like 16-year-old Wonder in Rachel Cohn's Pop Princess (S & S, 2004), she finds herself on a roller-coaster ride through makeovers, alcohol-laden parties, sensationalist critiques, attempts to manage schoolwork, demands of a pushy manager, losing her virginity, and dealing with parents. Wryly funny, often sincere, and sometimes pressed into banshee-like behavior, Molly is endearing in her attempts to reach maturity, sort out what's important, and decide what needs to be left behind.-Diane P. Tuccillo, City of Mesa Library, AZ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 9-12. Like a good guitar riff, Manning's debut novel picks up speed after a slow start. Instructed by her lawyer to record her experience in notebooks, Molly Montgomery relates the events leading up to being sued for 5,000,000 by her former record company. Armed with a guitar and three chords, Molly and two friends start a band, The Hormones, hoping to inspire a girl revolution. Some edgy boys and a conniving manager join the group, and their speedy rise to fame--filled with the requisite sex, drugs, and rock and roll--is fueled by quirky Hello Kitty lyrics. Naive Molly spurns her parents' instincts, trusts the wrong people, ignores the warning signs of friend Jane's downward spiral, squabbles with the band, and falls in love with the boy she thought she hated before finding her own voice and self-assurance. It's the depiction of the music scene (the narrative features "reprints" from industry mags and fan webzines), which comes complete with plentiful "snogging," that raises this above the mediocre--but don't expect it to go platinum. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

O-kay. Hmmmmmmmm...
I don't know if I love or hate this book. I'm 11, and it might be better for a 13-15 year old to read it.

Molly gets drunk twice. She has sex. She cusses. Her friend Jane takes off her shirt at a party and is taking pills and constantly having sex. Their manager, Paul, kisses Molly and threatens to kill her. Molly and Dean are always sleeping together.

But it all offers a message.

Overall, I think it was good, but it would have been better if I'd have waited till I was older.

Sex, drugs and Rock n Roll is all my body needs
when i first saw this book i thought "o, a book all about a derranged Avril Lavigne wannabe" well as i was stuck with what to read i chose this book, by the time Dean was introduced i was hooked! i read the book in one night unable to put it down, then again the next day.

through out the whole book i empapthised with Molly, whilst she was introdused to fame, fortune and sex! As she became a rock star and fell in love i found my self falling in love! toward the end i found myself wanting it all to turn out ok!

Me being in a band myself i found that my need to do the whole sex drugs and rock n roll cliche grew, as it became more appealing yet disturbing just as molly found her transformation.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to ROCK. As we follow Jane, Tara, T, Dean and MOlly into the world of Rock n roll.

filled with Cliche's, sex drugs and of course where would you be without Rock n Roll

all I can say is "i just cant wait for the film!!"

rock on
Molly, Jane, and Tara are determined to be a part of the girl revolution. They get some instruments, teach themselves three cords, and are ready to rock. At one of their first gigs, they meet Dean. He has the nerve to tell them they need improvement, and basically forces himself and his pal, T, into the band. The Hormones are born. Despite the fact that Molly and Dean hate each other, the band hits it big. The Hormones become a huge hit, traveling the world. They are living the good life of rock and roll excess-- on the outside. The truth is that Tara and T don't talk, except to each other. Jane is battling addictions of all kinds. Molly is being threatened and manipulated by their manager, Paul, and she has to hide the one bright spot in her life: her relationship with Dean. Will Molly hit superstardom, or will she lose herself completely, and crash and burn?