Being Friends with Boys

Being Friends With Boys
By Terra Elan McVoy

When Charlotte’s sister Jilly leaves for college and her best friend Lish dumps her to hang with the volleyball team, Charlotte does not have a lot of girlfriends.   She does , however, enjoy an easy relationship with the boys in the all boy band, Sad Jackal.  That all starts to change when Trip quits the band, and Charlotte, who has always served as the songwriter and the behind-the-scenes girl, is asked to sing.  Oliver, the leader of the band, seems jealous of Charlotte’s new fame and attention when she sings at the homecoming dance.  One of the new members, Fabian, seems to be flirting with Charlotte and asking her out secretly.  Charlotte is heartbroken when Trip, who she expected to remain friendly with after his departure from the band, makes new friends, takes a new girlfriend, and stops returning Charlotte’s texts.   And if frustrations with the boys from the band weren’t enough, Charlotte also makes friends with Benji McLaughlin, a boy with a less than stellar reputation at school, but one who seems to be a good friend and possibly more.  When the attention that Charlotte receives for her singing leads to an offer to sing with a girl band, it seems like the perfect solution at first.  Will Charlotte abandon Sad Jackal or will she find a way to remain friends with the boys?

This novel, the first I’ve read by Terra Elan McVoy, is an easy read.  It would appeal to girls who like music, girls who have many friends who are boys, or any girl looking for a romance read because, as you can guess, Charlotte won’t remain “just friends” with all of the boys.

Genre:  Realistic fiction, Romance    

Reviewed by:  Lauren Sprouse (librarian)