Thunderhead by Sophie Beer

"The possibly dying part of the surgery didn't scare me. It was the deaf part that scared me. Life without music. Even though music is my life."

Thunderhead is a long way outside my 'reading demographic'. It is a Young Adult title and I mostly read books for ages 5-12; and it is filled with contemporary music references nearly all of which meant nothing to me mainly because I am 'too old' or I missed this experience during my own teenage years. I will say some reviewers (see the end of this post) disagree and I have seen this book recommended for ages 10+ but I think it will have greater appeal to readers aged 12+ in the early years of High School. 

Thunderhead did hold my attention but I think my reading experience was probably only set to about 30% because I could not really relate to the enormous number references to music and also, unlike most reviewers, I did find the angsty teenage friendship trials a little tedious even though I am sure this is probably how most teenagers really do feel as they navigate change and try to work out how to fit in. My own teenage years were agony but I do not want to dwell on or think about events from over fifty years ago. 

Here is the publisher blurb:

Meet Thunderhead: awkward, music-obsessed and a magnet for bad luck. Their favourite things in life are listening to records and hanging out with their best (and only) friend Moonflower. But Thunderhead has a big secret. And when Moonflower moves schools, they're faced with the reality of surviving the wilderness of high school alone. Make new friends? NOTHANKYOUVERYMUCH. As two big life events approach, Thunderhead posts playlists and heartfelt diary entries as an outlet to try to make sense of their changing world, to try to calm the storm brewing in their brain and to try to find the courage to unfurl their heart.

Here are some text quotes which did resonate with me:

"I care so much about what people think of me that it keeps me awake at night, remembering cringe, ridiculous things I've said, twisting myself inside out with embarrassment."

"Get up and speak in front of the class? I would rather eat my own shoe with tomato sauce and a pocket knife."

"Music is one of the only sources of true magic I can think of. You can put a song on and suddenly be engulfed in memories of when you discovered it or what you were doing when you first heard it. Songs are spells, woven with melody and lyrics."

"At first I was scared I was going to die. Which is a pretty heavy thing when you're still as tall as you were in Year Four. I'd like to die having reached the prerequisite height to go on a roller-coaster, thanks very much."

"Mr Dosun (the school counsellor) is a bumbling, good-natured guy who I'm fairly certain is the result of a bad magic spell and is actually a golden retriever in a human's body."

"I get so angry that I have to be a BODY. I wish I were some ethereal spirit, flitting through dimensions and the space-time continuum, not bogged down by being inside a mound of flesh that is falling apart."

"Approximately every seven years, every cell in your body has died and been replaced. ... I met Moonflower seven years ago, when we were in Year Two. In that seven years, every cell inside her body has died and been replaced by another. She is literally not the same person who I first became friends with."

The daughter of one of my friends works for our Australian radio station called Triple J - even though she is way older than the intended audience for Thunderhead I kept thinking she would really enjoy this book so I think I will send her the details. Unlike me, she is sure to know 100% of the music references and her teenage years are recent enough for the trials and tribulations of friendships and the desperate need to 'fit in' to still resonate. 

Readers can find all the songs from this book via a Spotify list but since I don't have an account with this service I was unable to add this layer to my own reading. You can however listen to samples of the tracks. There are over 180 tracks because each entry in Thunderhead opens with a list of five or six tracks that reflect the themes or her feelings as she goes through her complex life journey. 

Thunderhead is sure to be a CBCA 2025 Notable title - hopefully in the Older Readers category.

This is the album Thunderhead really wants to own:

Here is an interview where Sophie Beer talks to Joy Lawn (Paperbark Words). Allen and Unwin list some famous author endorsements for this book on their webpage. 

Click each of these review links for more plot details:

It’s a difficult review to write, without giving away too many of the secrets and twists but I can assure you that this is one fabulous and moving novel. Just so Stories

I loved this book, because it was lovingly and thoughtfully created with personal experience and excellent research. It’s one of those books that I couldn’t put down, and that comes to life vibrantly on the page. It’s full of heart and soul, music and joy, family and friends. It will make you laugh, cry, and cheer, and get into your heart and soul. Feeling seen and understood in the books you read is a powerful thing, and we need to have more awesome disability representation like this. The Book Muse

And music itself is a character in the book. Every chapter begins with a playlist – Playlist for Luck, Playlist for New Friends, Playlist for Staring Big, Awful, Scary Things Right in the Eyes. Beer cleverly establishes Thunderhead’s long term love of music via intergenerational influences to ensure the lists don’t date the book, with everything from Nina Simone, to Taylor Swift, to mxmtoon. Storylinks

Here is the webpage for Sophie Beer where you can see her previous picture books. It is fun to link her new Upper Primary/High School book Thunderhead with her work on the Little People Big Dreams title about Elton John. Sophie Beer did all the art in Thunderhead and at times this gives the book a graphic novel feel. 

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

These two girls, Avery and Bett, do not know each other. They live in different parts of America. They have no reason to ever meet. That is until the summer they are both twelve. Their dads meet, fall in love and decide to travel to China. Avery and Bett are sent to summer camp.  Can two very different girls become friends? Yes if they have a joint project especially one that affects their precious dads, their family life and even their future.

The story is told via emails (mainly), letters and a few txt messages. Mostly we read the communication between Avery Bloom and Bett (short for Betty she's named after her grandmother) Devlin but as the story progresses we hear from Sam Bloom (Avery's Papa); Marlow Devlin (Bett's Daddy); Gaga (Betty Devlin Bett's grandmother); and Kristina Allenberry (actress and birth mother to Avery). This is an interesting format and means the pace of the story never lets up while also allowing each girl to share her back story, hopes and fears.

These two girls are almost polar opposites. Avery is from New York city. She is an anxious girl who is terrified of water and her interests are science and reading. Bett lives in California and she is LOUD and confident and adores outdoor sports especially those involving water.

As is the way with relationships there are lots of ups and downs for Avery and Bett and of course for Sam and Marlow. Just when the girls decide they will be friends, they discover they really like each other, Sam and Marlow break up! Avery and Bett want to be sisters so now they have to hatch a complex plan to get these two guys back together.  Naturally it doesn't quite work out the way they might have expected.

To Night Owl from Dogfish came to me highly recommended by Beachside Bookshop but I must say I resisted reading this book. I actually started it three or four times and gave up. I was sure this was not my style of book.

Yesterday I was traveling for several hours to my volunteer job at Westmead so I decided to take this book along and give it another try. By the end of the day I had read the whole book - it is certainly a page turner and it has almost 300 pages! So yes you might say I did enjoy this book.  I am going to say here that in my view this book is for 11+ (mature readers). I am not sure that I would have purchased this book for my Primary School library - it seems more suitable for junior high.

Click these review quotes for more plot details:

This is a laugh out loud novel with a cast of great characters. Randomly Reading

Strong and vivid characterisation makes us feel we really know Bett, Avery, Grandma Betty and the parents, and relate to their decisions and feelings. BookTrust

Sloan and Wolitzer nicely differentiate their protagonists’ voices, making the emails believable even while the girls are seeing each other every day at camp. Horn Book

You can listen to an audio sample on the Penguin web site.