
Lou With the Band
Candlewick Press · Hardcover · October 7, 2025
From the acclaimed author of the delicious Idol Gossip comes a new music-themed novel with an irresistible backbeat and a thoughtful read on friendship and identity.
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- Who it’s for
- For an easy, immersive read that rides on music and motion.
- Genres
- Music Stories for Teens, Contemporary YA Romance, Coming of Age
- Published
- Candlewick Press, October 7, 2025
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Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Contemporary YA Romance.
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For older readers: A Place for US, Love Goes Viral
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Start with this bookAbout this book
From the acclaimed author of the delicious Idol Gossip comes a new music-themed novel with an irresistible backbeat and a thoughtful read on friendship and identity. When Lou enlists her best friend, Molly, to shave her head, it’s partly so she doesn’t have to deal with washing her hair all the time while on tour—and partly because she’s ready to be a new person.
Continue reading
No stranger to reinventing herself, restless Lou is a Cuban-American girl who’s never left Texas, let alone the country. But the “New Lou” has deferred her first semester at Texas State to work for a celebrity musician on tour. She’s bound for China, Japan, half of Europe, and everywhere in between, though it means getting intimately acquainted with the band’s dirty laundry. Even with her road crew uncle on alert, it will be the summer of a lifetime, full of underground parties, disco spas, and gelato. When Lou falls for a tattooed guitar prodigy who makes her feel achingly alive, it doesn’t cross her mind to doubt him or—as life on the road tightens its hold—her course. Will Molly know her when she returns, if she returns? Who is the “New Lou” really? Pulsing with energy and authentic detail, this story of self-discovery ushers readers backstage on a sensational world tour.
Why This Clicks
For an easy, immersive read that rides on music and motion.
Come here for
- music-forward teen fiction
- road-trip energy, kept light
Expect
- accessible, realistic fiction
- good for gifting or a keepsake shelf
Where it sits
| Contemporary YA Romance | 71% |
|---|---|
| Music Stories for Teens | 66% |
| Coming of Age | 60% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Alternative Family Stories
- Music Stories for Teens
- Contemporary YA Romance
- Authors
- Alexandra Leigh Young
- Publisher
- Candlewick Press
- Published
- October 7, 2025
- Format
- Hardcover
- Reading lane
- YA Alternative Family Stories