I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: Retro songs for teen audiences (ie. Glee) (2012).

I’m not really going to talk about Glee here.  I’m using it as a springboard for a question that the show has raised for me.  And this question pops up a little in Queen Bee as well.  I know that retro things are always cool.  Full stop.  And I know that the retro coolness shifts accordingly to be always 20/25 years in the past.  But in my experience, the retro craze pretty much applies to fashion, not necessarily to music.

So given that, it makes me wonder about the premise of some of the music on Glee.  Now, I know, Glee is about as far from reality as anything on the Syfy Channel.  I accept that.  I accept that the universe in which the show is set is more or less not even our own.  But when they have nods to actual history, I’m curious.  And this leads me to ask:  Do kids in high school really care about Michael Jackson?  Or, more to the point, about Whitney Houston?  I mean, sure if you’re in glee club, you’ve probably had to sing “I Will Always Love You” a million times.  But were high school kids really upset when she died?  I mean, sure she released an album in 2009 (that I didn’t even know about) and it went to #1 (really?), but in terms of actual pop relevance, she’s been on the down low since the 90s.

I don’t know any high school kids well enough to ask them about this, but I knew some middle school kids when I worked at the library, and they were all about whoever the flavor of the minute was.  Again, musically talented kids may be different, but it seems really odd to me that even on Glee, the kids seemed to love some retro songs and then of course were arbitrarily against some other ones.  [That’s a good subtitle for the writing of the show: “Glee:  It’s All Arbitrary”].  I think back to my high school years, and I didn’t like anything retro, in fact I thought all old music sucked.  (Of course I listened pretty much only to heavy metal, so I’m not a good sample audience).  But aside from some Simon & Garfunkel, I don’t recall there being a lot of folkie kids in my high school.  The cool kids listened to 80s pop and the alt-kids listened to college music.

This brings to Queen Bee.  The song that she chooses to sing (see below) is The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat.”  A classic of 80s pop music, undoubtedly.  And yet, I have to wonder how many kids in her middle school class even knew the song.  A bit of research shows that it has been used in films and such, but would that have garnered any real recognition/excitement?  Aside from the fact that it’s catchy as anything and the drumming is awesome, of course.  [I also realize that that isn’t the point of her using the song in the story, I’m moving beyond the text here].

I know this is all fiction and I just need to relax.  But I’m mostly curious.  Aside from getting stuck listening to their parents iPods, do kids actually listen to older music?  When I was little my parents listened only to big band music.  And I hated it.  Until I got to college and realized it was pretty cool.  But still, in my teen years, I was all about the present.  Isn’t that the point?

[READ: June 5, 2012] Queen Bee

I have enjoyed most of Chynna Clugston’s books (Blue Monday and Scooter Girl in particular).  I love her style of drawing (anime, but with a twist) and her pop culture sensibilities.  I had no idea that this book existed until I saw it in the children’s comics section at the library!

I also assumed that this was an earlier work by her (what’s she doing writing for Scholastic?).  But no, this book came out many years after the books I love so well.  It’s kind of funny that she went from alt rock hipness to middle school (and then moved to Legion of Super Heroes).  But wait, she hasn’t done anything in five years?  Gasp.  Actually I see she has a new blog and a new husband–so she’s clearly busy.

Anyhow, back to the book.

This book is set in middle school.  It features a young woman named Haley Madison (that must be a joke about over-common names).  She is a geek and a loser.   But when her mom gets a new job at the hippest and coolest teen magazine, Haley gets to move to a new school.  Which means fresh start!  And she plans on becoming the queen bee at JFK intermediate.  She is introduced to a nice girl named Trini.  Trini shows her around and introduces her to her cool friends (who are super nice to her).  But when Trini shows her the Hive–five girls who are super duper popular, Haley has a goal in front of her.

There’s only one problem with all of this.  Haley has psychokinesis and can move anything that she wants with her mind.  Some might think this was awesome, but Haley feels that it is a major burden (especially when she can’t control it).  Nevertheless, it comes in handy once or twice, and she soon (after about two weeks) finds herself hanging with the Hive, on the verge of becoming its queen bee.

Although she’s blown off Trini and her friends, she is now very popular (with everyone else).  But when Alexa Harmon (a beautiful girl with wild hair) comes to the school, she threatens to undo what Haley has worked for weeks to achieve.  Alexa also has psychokinesis, but she’s not afraid to use it to get ahead.  And soon, Haley finds herself in a struggle to stay queen.

As happens in books like this, Haley is partnered with a quiet boy sitting in one of her classes–Jasper.  Jasper is nice to her and introduces her to his wild and loud family (Haley, it turns out is adopted).  She is envious of what they have, even if he’s kind of embarrassed by them.  Haley and Jasper work together on a school project (to help right an injustice done to Haley).  When Haley learns that he plays drums, why they become good friends.   And when Haley tries  to win her popularity back buy singing at the Amer-I-Can contest, she picks Jasper to be her drummer.  I liked that Alexa was clearly using her powers to hone in on everything that Haley tries to do for this show, although it’s never really explained how she does it.

There’s also mention of a potential twist-a-roo.  Hmm, Haley and Alexa look-alike.   Hmm, Haley and Alexa both have PK.  Hmmm, Haley is adopted.  Could it mean….

Sadly the promised sequel to Queen Bee has never been published (or written, presumably).  And we are stuck just imagining what kind of future Haley and Alexa would have together–maybe it was something like Sarah Michele Gellar’s on Ringer!

I love Clugsston’a art as I said so to me any story by her is worth a read.  This one was more predictable than her others, but then it is written for middle-schoolers, so it gets some slack.  if you don’t mind a cliff hanger that will never be resolved, pick it up!