The Midnights

By Sarah Nicole Smetana,

Book cover of The Midnights

Book description

This voice-driven coming-of-age YA novel is perfect for fans of Katie Cotugno and Playlist for the Dead.

Susannah Hayes has never been in the spotlight, but she dreams of following her father, a former rock star, onto the stage. As senior year begins, she's more interested in composing impressive chord…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Midnights as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

One book that I really recommend reading is the novel The Midnights by Sarah Nicole Smetana. The main character, Susannah, is a seventeen-year-old girl who plays a mean guitar like her former rock star father whose attention she craves very much. She is driven with passion to pursue her dream even after her father suddenly dies unexpectedly, and must uproot to a new city where she eagerly takes on the challenge. The story is an emotionally charged coming-of-age novel involving loss, creativity, and feeling confident in your voice, while feeling confident in your choices to define who you are. 

This beautiful, lyrical book is a must-read for music lovers. It's a gorgeously written narrative set in a southern California wholly unlike the sun-drenched la-la-land portrayed in most movies and TV shows, a Los Angeles and Orange County filled with earthquakes and wildfires, blistering heat, and endless, dangerous rain. Like the weather in the book, the story is harsh and unrelenting: high school senior Susannah Hayes can't escape the pain of her former rock-star father's death or the need to solve the mystery of his life. At the same time she's discovering her own power as a musician, and making…

From Anna's list on YA about girls who literally rock.

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