Book Review: Road Rash by Mark Huntley Parsons

Road Rash
Author: Mark Huntley Parsons
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: February 11th 2014
Review Source: Knopf Books for Young Readers

A teenage drummer finds out what life is really like on tour with a rock band in this funny, funky, bittersweet debut YA novel. For anyone who loved Almost Famous or This Is Spinal Tap.

After being dropped from one band, 17-year-old drummer Zach gets a chance to go on tour with a much better band. It feels like sweet redemption, but this is one rocky road trip. . . .

Zach's in control on the drums, driving the band, keeping things moving at the right pace. But when the show is over, his timing is all off. The jealousies and rivalries within his new group keep him off-balance. The awesome original song he recorded backfires. And the girl he left back home is suddenly talking about this other guy . . .

Mark Parsons has written a fast-paced, feel-good novel about a boy finding his place in the world, in a band, and in the music. Zach is a character teens will stand up and cheer for as he lands the perfect gig, and the perfect girl.

Whoa this book was awesome! It makes me want to learn how to play an instrument, any of them. Then I sit back and remember that no matter how hard I could try I would never be as awesome as Zach, and he’s fictional.

Zach is an average teenager trying to make his band, Sock Monkeys, stronger than before, setting up set lists, practice times, and all that goes into being in band. But when he comes to practice one day he inevitably gets kicked out and replaced. His replacement ends up being a spoiled kid whose father is in the big leagues and has a recording studio and hook ups in the music bizz. He attempts to get a summer job, when that faithful day he gets a call from another local (and better) band looking for a new drummer. When he gets the gig, he and the new band set out across the west to play venues and tour, but being on road for summer can get to some people. Can he and this new band make it?

Alright, this author, he’s got to have some major music skills or really good a faking it. I was so intrigued on what Zach and his bandmates could do and come up with that I wish I could go and see them on tour. Zach definitely has the natural talent of a musician, and you can tell with the way Mark writes him, he himself has talent. I was never bored reading this book, I felt like I was on tour with these guys as well. I was getting annoyed with how some of the characters acted and wondered how they could spend so much time with each other and not rip each other’s throats out. But when you’re in a band I guess that’s kind of what happens, you’re always together.

Zach has major skills in every aspect of music; he can play, he can feel the music, and he can create an amazing track, but will this natural talent butt heads with the other bandmates? I was rooting for this kid the entire time, to get the girl, or at least realize he wants the girl, to rock hard and become an amazing drummer. I felt it all while reading this, annoyance, love, strength, perseverance, all he wanted was to make his new band better than before.

This book is definitely worth picking up. While you’re reading it you feel like you’re on tour with the band as well (like I said before you’ll feel it all). You get to see the less than glamorous side of becoming a band and touring. And the ending definitely rocked! And Bravo to Mark Huntley Parsons on this great book!