The Midnights by Sarah Nicole Smetana
Published by HarperTeen on March 6th 2018
ISBN: 0062644629
Pages: 416
Goodreads

When senior high student, Susannah Hayes’ alcoholic, retired rock musician father tragically dies during a California wildfire, the bond that they shared and her natural skill of creating lyrics becomes blocked.  Susannah must navigate a new school when her mother moves them to her grandmother’s house; a grandmother she thought was dead.  Layers of relationships, teen flirtations, garage band scenes, teens using drugs, alcohol and fragile friendships are the back drop that Susannah outwardly survives in as she inwardly fights to find her songwriting muse.  Finding closure happens on a variety of levels as heartache breaks her apart and music puts her back together.  Smetana allows her characters to be untrustworthy, confused, impulsive and immature without apology.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library