Real Dragons Read Pink Books
Holme, Jennifer and Holme, Matthew. Babymouse: Rock Star. New York : Random House, 2006.
Plot: Babymouse loves playing the flute and practices dutifully. However, she still sounds terrible. She dreams of becoming a popular musician, but seems doomed to remain in the school's last chair. A brief lesson from a hidden prodigy may change her fate, though.
Genre: Graphic Novel
Reading Level: Grades 4-9
Similar Titles: Giants Beware, Ariol 2: The Knightly Horse
Personal Thoughts: Like most of the Babymouse series, the title blends a common plot, funny drawings, and quirky fantasy to relate to readers. However, the story also manages to avoid falling completely into a cliche. Sometimes, despite the assurance to the contrary, working harder and learning more does not launch students to the level they want to reach and that is okay. Tweens, like all readers, need to know improvement, not excellence, is ultimately something to strive for. By constantly making characters into experts in tween texts, readers get unrealistic expectations for practice and dismissive toward legitimate improvement. Babymouse does not instantly become the rock star she wishes to be. She does not even become the best flutist in the school. Instead, she becomes a better musician, which is enough. Such is a valuable lesson not often discussed in tween, or even teen, titles.
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