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    Noteworthy
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    Noteworthy
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    Noteworthy
    Ebook441 pages5 hours

    Noteworthy

    By Riley Redgate

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A New York Public Library 2017 Best Books for Teens selected title!

    It’s the start of Jordan Sun’s junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she’s an Alto 2, which—in the musical theatre world—is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody’s falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it’s no surprise when she gets shut out of the fall musical for the third year straight. But then the school gets a mass email: A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshiped . . . revered . . . all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherABRAMS
    Release dateMay 2, 2017
    ISBN9781683350699
    Unavailable
    Noteworthy
    Author

    Riley Redgate

    Riley Redgate graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, with a degree in economics. Noteworthy is her second novel. She currently lives and writes in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Visit the author at rileyredgate.com.

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    Reviews for Noteworthy

    4/5

    7 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Despite her full-ride scholarship to a prestigious fine-arts high school, Jordan is not getting cast in any productions. Between her height, her Chinese-American features, and her Alto 2 vocal range, there just aren't parts suitable for her. Maybe her parents are right, and she should move back home. Then, she sees the audition notice: the school's most prestigious a cappella group, the Sharpshooters, has one open slot. Jordan decides to take her shot, but there's just one problem: the Sharpshooters is an all-male ensemble. Can Jordan pass as a guy and make it into the group? What will happen when she's found out?I enjoyed this book tremendously. Great character development, great details about music and singing, great discussion of masculinity and femininity. I would have liked to see a little more of Jordan when she wasn't in disguise; I felt like that had to be a larger portion of her life than the book showed -- but all in all, really fun. If you like realistic YA, and especially if you have an interest in a cappella, give this one a try!
    • 3/5
      Super cute, and I love the musical aspects, but I wish there had been more about being nonbinary/trans. For a book that is so focused around gender and passing as a different gender, trans issues were surprisingly glossed over.
    • 5/5
      This book is so fun and joyful, yet takes a strong look at different forms of masculinity through a new lens.

      Plus acapella. Such a wonderful book. You should check it out.
    • 5/5
      Jordan Sun is a scholarship student at a boarding school for the Performing Arts. Her unusual vocal range - Alto 2 - makes it difficult for her to fit into the musical theater world. The story begins with her being passed over for a role in the fall musical for the third year in a row. She is feeling disappointed and discouraged when a mass email is sent out that one of the most prominent a capella groups at school is looking for a new tenor. She decides to dress in drag and try out. She figures that she has nothing to lose.When she is accepted into the group, she has to extend her time in drag which causes all sorts of difficult situations. She hasn't a bunch of close friends at the school since she spent the previous two years in an intense relationship with a fellow student who has graduated and moved on - cheating on her along the way. She has come back to school for her junior year trying to get over the heartbreak and forge her own path. She is concerned about her parents who are living at or below the poverty line in San Francisco and who, she fears, want to bring her back home.Jordan - now Julian - makes friends with the guys in the group who are an interesting assortment of personalities. It is the first time that she feels she has a home and a family at the school. But everything is hinging on her being successful at hiding her gender. The pressure mounts because the various a capella groups are gearing up for a December performance that could lead them to be chosen as an opening act on a famous a capella group's European tour. One other group is especially determined to thwart her group's chances and embarks on a number of pranks.This was an engaging story. I was particularly taken with Jordan's musings on gender identity and her own sexuality. This was a great look at gender roles and gender identity. Students interested in the performing arts or boarding schools will enjoy this story and meet some interesting characters along the way.
    • 5/5
      I requested this book from a Goodreads Giveaway because I thought it sounded like Pitch Perfect blended with Twelfth Night (or She's the Man). I love all of those things and this was everything I hoped it to be and so much more!This is one of those books that if you bring it in public with you, people may think you're crazy because you are laughing and smiling like an idiot (I know this happened to me, maybe you have more control than I do, I don't know)Don't be fooled by the adorable cover, there's a lot of depth and poignant moments between the covers of this book. The characters are so relatable, and their dialogue was pitch perfect (see what I did there?)Nothing about this book felt forced, and Riley Redgate managed to make every character three dimensional, which is no easy task. I haven't read a book this good in a long time and I will be recommending it to everyone I know, especially my choir friends!I'm going to leave you with a quote that made me want to be best friends with Jordan and I hope it makes you want to read this book. I hope you love it as much as I did! Happy reading!"The only thing I had in numbers were books...It was impossible to feel alone in a room full of favorite books. I had the sense that they knew me personally, that they'd read me cover to cover as I'd read them."
    • 3/5
      "Noteworthy" looked and sounded a quick, fun read and, although it was those things, it also dealt with some serious issues such as gender, friendship, acceptance and disability. The characters were diverse, loveable and quirky, and Jordan was a great narrator. I loved that she was Chinese-American (like the author), and I admired her determination to succeed despite numerous rejections when auditioning for musical theatre roles thanks to her Alto 2 voice. When she saw an opportunity to join an all boy a cappella group, she went undercover as a guy in order to be accepted. There were certainly some very humorous moments when she became Julian.The members of the Sharps were all unique anc came from a variety of cultural and social backgrounds, and I loved their easy camaraderie. They were passionate about music and the times Jordan spent with the group were the best parts of the book. I enjoyed watching her develop friendships with each of them, especially Nihal who was such a sweetie and, by far, my favourite character.My biggest criticism with this book was the pacing. At times it was painfully slow with too many descriptions, that I just wanted to scream. I nearly gave up on more than one occasion, but did made to make it to the end.
    • 4/5
      What a fun and meaningful book!

      Jordan can't land any role in the musicals at her school, and she's getting desperate. To the point she'll audition to an all-male a capella group—in disguise, obviously. And for the first time, she gets it!

      This book was surprisingly entertaining. I almost cried in the beginning while Jordan described her situation at school, so, as crazy as her idea to dress as a man and audition to a group may sound, even I was like "You have to try it!". So I can't say this book is not engaging.

      What I didn't expect was it acquiring depth. As Jordan struggles to hide her identity, she faces multiple challenges and makes you wonder about how gender roles are formed. Even though she only wanted others to think she was a he, her male persona Julian turns out to feel ironically freer than she ever was.

      Also this was a book that knew how to integrate diversity in a subtle way. I won't go into details but if you like checking a successful attempt, go ahead. We have not only race and sexuality on debate, the author also managed to discuss social classes and the struggles of a student on scholarship—and again, I couldn't help but identify, for I was also in the middle of paradoxes caused by how lacking scholarships can be.

      The book will certainly become food for thought, which is ideal for a book club. Although it is an YA, I'm sure it can be enjoyed by older readers.

      The writing is not perfect, of course. I found some scenes needed editing, for example, the competition, around which the whole book revolves, turned out to be underwhelming. I really liked the romance and at the the same time I wish we had seen a little more there. And... just a personal note, Jordan dressing up as a guy and researching about it led her to transitioning pages but it would have also been cooler if they mentioned the musical theater all-female troupe that exists in Japan, in which girls will take male roles—after all, this has everything to do with her. I confess I was so sure they would mention this I felt disappointed when they didn't.

      Still, this was a book I loved reading so much I wish there it were even longer. If you like reflecting about gender, prejudice and the like, this is surely the book for you. I don't recommend it to those who don't. Even though most of it is subtle, I think you would still feel bothered. You don't have an opinion? Then go ahead, you'll like this.

      Final note, I'm tagging romance because there is one for those like me who live for romances but this was more of a gen book.


      Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Thank you to the publisher for giving me this opportunity.