Solo

Solo

YA fiction
"Rutherford may not have much time left before
He falls flat on 12:00. Midnight can be so cruel.
Who doesn't feel sorry for his kids
Left answering the hard questions, like
How does it feel
To be the daughter,
To be the son
Of a fallen rock star?"
Blade, narrator of Kwame Alexander's Solo, is that son of a
fallen rock star. His childhood was, shall we say, unusual, much of
it on the road with his father's band. He did alcohol and drugs for
the amusement of the adults in his life. At one point, after tasting
what he thought was powdered sugar, he woke up in the ICU with his
father in handcuffs.
Now he and his sister, Storm, have everything money can buy.
But he'd like to trade his life for someone else's. His mother is
dead. His father, Rutherford, is washed up, seemingly striving for a
come back, but constantly undone by alcohol and drugs. The paparazzi
follows his every move, eager to uncover his spectacular incidents and
failures. Blade often finds very unwanted microphones in his face
each time Rutherford demonstrates how low he can go.
The only bright spot in Blade's life is his beloved girlfriend,
Chapel. The problem is Chapel can't be seen with Blade. Her strict
parents fear that he'll turn out like his father and contaminate her.
As if this isn't enough, there's a family secret that, when
revealed, will shred Blade's sense of identity.
As with Alexander's other fine novels, lively verse, colorful
characters, and intriguing plot combine to create an impossible to put
down narrative.
On a personal note, we are just a hop, skip, and jump away from the
start of fall semester. I did my last volunteering at Orono Public
Library til Christmas break. Where I've been doing that since the
place opened it felt strange. Community Garden is in full bloom. I
had my grad school orientation. The new UMaine president gave a fine
speech. But my favorite part was we had lunch on my turf. Wells
Dining Commons to be exact. I got to tell people where the different
options were. Then when people were settled in I went from table to
table, asking how people were enjoying their dining experience. They
were loving it! I wasn't on the clock but I felt like a hostess
anyway. The supervisors seemed quite pleased to see me with the other
grad students. I was wearing bird cage earrings and Nancy asked me if
I was using the birds to tease the cats on my shirt.
A great big shout out goes out to the other grad students who, like
me, have only just begun.
jules hathaway


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