Guitar Notes

Lyla seems to be perfect.  She gets perfect grades, has perfect friends, and plays the cello perfectly.  But despite how wonderful things seem, Lyla isn't happy with her life.  Tripp, on the other hand, is more of a loner with his own issues whose only comfort - his guitar - has been taken away by his mother in the hopes that he'll make some friends without the guitar crutch.  The two find themselves sharing a practice room at school, with Tripp using the room on odd days and Lyla on even days.  What begins as a few notes about practice room etiquette (please throw away your trash) soon evolves into an unlikely friendship as they bond over Tripp's borrowed guitar.  Lyla and Tripp share secrets with each other and challenge each other to write songs and to look at their music in different ways.  But circumstances and well-meaning parents threaten to end Tripp and Lyla's friendship just as it is starting to flourish. 

In Guitar Notes, author Mary Amatto has created a wonderful story of friendship.  It was great to get at the emotional core of both of these characters and see how two people who seem so different really do have much in common.  And how many teen books can you think of where friendship is the central, driving theme of the story?  Not many.  I greatly appreciate that Tripp and Lyla's relationship never evolves into romance so that we can focus on the frienship that both characters so desperately need.  The story is told in alternating viewpoints and includes Tripp and Lyla's notes, text messages, e-mails, and song lyrics.

Overall Grade:  B+