I Heart Band

I HEART BAND is a fun, pacy younger middle-grade series about the thrills and spills, practices and performances, crushes and crises of the kids in a middle-school band.

Holly Mead’s first day of 7th grade isn’t going as planned. Her brother ruins her carefully-chosen outfit, she’s almost late, and her new band director has some surprisingly strict rules. Worst of all, it seems like her best friend, Julia, has replaced her. Natasha is new at Millican Middle School, but she and Julia bonded at band camp over the summer. Natasha is pretty, smart, and as good at French horn as Holly – maybe even better.
Holly is determined to get first chair, but Natasha is turning out to be some pretty stiff competition – and not just in band. As Natasha and Julia get closer, Holly feels like she and her best friend are drifting further apart. Things only get worse when Holly fails her first science quiz. If she can’t pass, she won’t be able to participate in band, thanks to the new director’s “no pass no play” rule. That means no band party – and no opportunity to get to know a certain good-looking trumpet player named Aaron Cook a little better!

The harder Holly tries in band and with Julia, the worse everything seems to get. Maybe being second best in band isn’t the end of the world, but when it comes to best friends, Holly just has to be first. Band might be a competition, but friendship isn’t – and Holly needs to figure it out before she loses Julia for good.

Rights details

Grosset, Penquin USA (Books 1 and 2: Fall 2013; Book 3: Fall 2014; Book 4: Spring 2015).

Rights: World, all languages

• Ages 8 - 12