Every Time You Hear That Song

Starred review from January 29, 2024
A bisexual teen reporter uncovers the unsung love story of a closeted woman from her small town’s past in this layered exploration of ambition, partnership, and journalistic ethics told via evocatively rendered dual POVs. Neither pursuing journalism nor coming out seem possible for Darren Purchase—at least, not if she stays in Mayberry, Ark. When she learns that her favorite musician—late “country-pop icon” Decklee Cassel—left behind a treasure hunt leading to an unreleased album secretly cowritten with her estranged songwriting partner, Mickenlee Hooper, and a $3 million prize, Darren jumps at the chance to snag financial independence. Embarking on a road trip with a classmate she knows “in the same shallow, superficial way I know everyone in Mayberry,” Darren hunts for the album—and the scoop behind Decklee and Mickenlee’s relationship. But revelations about her idol and her traveling companion force Darren to reconsider her goals and what leaving Mayberry might really cost. Through alternating past and present first-person narratives following morally ambiguous “wildfire girl” Decklee and ingenuous Darren respectively, Voris (Made of Stars) teases out tension between a longing for privacy and a desire to live and love out loud in this messy, complicated search for community. Protagonists read as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Claire Friedman, InkWell Management.

February 15, 2024
An ambitious teen reporter sees solving a superstar's mystery as a way out of being stuck in her small Southern town. Aspiring reporter Darren Purchase, a white bisexual 17-year-old, wants nothing more than to escape Mayberry, Arkansas, even if it means leaving the comfortable companionship of her neighbor's front porch and no longer listening to country music legend Decklee Cassel with her mom. Recently deceased Decklee, who was from Mayberry herself, famously spent the last 50 years creating a time capsule to be revealed after her death--but when it's opened, it turns out to be empty. Then the local radio station plays a prerecorded message from Decklee introducing a scavenger hunt to find the time capsule contents and claim a $3 million prize. Darren and Kendall Wilkinson, the brown-skinned boy she's known since second grade and her gas station co-worker, team up to solve the mystery, embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime road trip across the South. The chapters alternate between the evocative first-person perspectives of Darren in the present day and Decklee from the 1960s until shortly before her death; on the way, she climbs the ladder of the music industry and reckons with the personal cost of stardom. Lesbian Decklee, with her trademark curly blond hair and sequined costumes, navigates an unfair world and heterosexist expectations. The parallel narratives are richly vivid and expertly woven together into an unexpected conclusion. Discoveries of love, legacy, and self take center stage in this musical tapestry of a novel. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 10, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Darren Purchase, an aspiring reporter living in rural Mayberry, AR, dreams of escaping her hometown, like her favorite country music legend and hometown hero, Decklee Cassel. Darren connects with the stories of Decklee and her songwriting partner Mickenlee Hooper, who mysteriously disappeared at the height of their fame in the 1980s. When Decklee dies, leaving her long-awaited time capsule empty with only a clue as to where to find the contents, Darren sees it as a way to not only learn more about Decklee and Mickenlee but to finally escape Mayberry. She enlists her gas station coworker Kendall Wilkinson, a boy she has known most of her life, to drive her throughout the South in search of Decklee's new music and her way out. Written in alternating chapters of present-day Darren on her road trip with Kendall and Decklee's story starting in the 1960s to her death, Voris's queer coming-of-age narrative is expertly woven. From the stories of Decklee's life in the music industry to Darren's search for her truth, this novel speaks to home, family, and love across generations. Darren is bisexual and Decklee is a lesbian. VERDICT A vivid queer romance whose characters and plot will captivate readers. A strong purchase.-Rebekah J. Buchanan

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2024
In 1963, fifteen-year-old Decklee left her town of Mayberry, Arkansas, with a dream of becoming a country music legend and never looked back. In 2024, just after the news of her death, seventeen-year-old Mayberry resident and aspiring journalist Darren finds inspiration in her story: "If Decklee could leave, if she could turn herself into a star, what was stopping me?" After the funeral, Darren sees her opportunity: Decklee has arranged a posthumous treasure hunt for a time capsule consisting of music, mementos -- and three million dollars. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of the singer, Darren and her friend (or maybe more) Kendall follow the clues to Memphis; Nashville; and Tupelo, Mississippi, in search of the prize. Meanwhile, in alternating flashbacks, Decklee narrates her rise to fame: how she fought for a career full of praise, awards, and adoration -- and (heartbreakingly) how she gave up the love of her life to get it. The juxtaposition of the two stories invites readers to consider what's changed for women, especially queer women (Decklee is a lesbian; Darren is bisexual), in the past sixty years. It ends on a hopeful note, as Darren recognizes Decklee's mistakes and learns to love the place they've both left behind. With its smoothly written prose, sympathetic characters, and chemistry-laden double romance, this is a story that lingers after it's finished, like a favorite song. Rachel L. Kerns

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
In 1963, fifteen-year-old Decklee left her town of Mayberry, Arkansas, with a dream of becoming a country music legend and never looked back. In 2024, just after the news of her death, seventeen-year-old Mayberry resident and aspiring journalist Darren finds inspiration in her story: "If Decklee could leave, if she could turn herself into a star, what was stopping me?" After the funeral, Darren sees her opportunity: Decklee has arranged a posthumous treasure hunt for a time capsule consisting of music, mementos -- and three million dollars. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of the singer, Darren and her friend (or maybe more) Kendall follow the clues to Memphis; Nashville; and Tupelo, Mississippi, in search of the prize. Meanwhile, in alternating flashbacks, Decklee narrates her rise to fame: how she fought for a career full of praise, awards, and adoration -- and (heartbreakingly) how she gave up the love of her life to get it. The juxtaposition of the two stories invites readers to consider what's changed for women, especially queer women (Decklee is a lesbian; Darren is bisexual), in the past sixty years. It ends on a hopeful note, as Darren recognizes Decklee's mistakes and learns to love the place they've both left behind. With its smoothly written prose, sympathetic characters, and chemistry-laden double romance, this is a story that lingers after it's finished, like a favorite song.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)