The Haters

At a jazz camp of "mostly dudes," bass player Wes and his drummer best friend Corey meet Ash, who has her own unique musical style and refuses to play with the condescending guys. Frustrated, she leaves--and Wes and Corey go with her. What follows is both a classic road-trip novel and an inventive teen adventure that subtly addresses race, family, and socioeconomics.

Bass player Wes (named after jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery) and his best friend Corey, a drummer, are "jazz-nerd chaff. The worst of the best" at Bill Garabedian's Jazz Giants of Tomorrow Intensive Summer Workshop. The place is "mostly dudes," but then they meet Ash, one of the only girls at camp, who has her own unique musical style and flat-out refuses to play music with the condescending guys. Frustrated, she leaves-and Wes and Corey go with her. What follows is both a classic road trip novel and a contemporary and inventive teen adventure: they play (horribly) at a Chinese food buffet, hang at a commune, and almost get shot (twice!). The boys' friendship is built partly on a shared love of hating on things, and their dialogue is filled with overtly masculine humor (their "go-to trope" is "dick harm," joking that "basically, the idea is, if something is really great, we...have no choice but to do harm to our own dicks"). Ash, whose actions drive the story, is more a domineering personality than an equal member of the group, leading to authentic struggles as the three attempt to figure out their interpersonal relationships, distinctive musical sound, and identities as individuals. Issues of race, family, and socioeconomics (Wes was adopted from Venezuela as a baby; Ash's mom is French and her dad is a Brazilian billionaire/serial philanderer) play subtly throughout the book. sian gaetano