Guitar Boy Paperback – November 13, 2012

My son (11) absolutely loved this book when he read it last year. Intact, he loved it so much, he's been in guitar lessons for the past 6 months.He's read everything written by MJ Auch and is only complaint is that there aren't enough books.The one handed catch changed the way he felt about reading, he loves to read now because of MJ Auch!

We read this with our 11 year old who is taking guitar lessons and we all absolutely loved it! One of the best books we have ever read! Highly recommended!

This is a quick read, appropriate for ages 10-14. Of course, older audiences can appreciate it as well, though we will find the resolutions to the various issues a bit predictable. The intended audience, though, likely won't find them so. And this is definitely a book I could recommend to teachers wanting something a bit different for their school reading lists.One of the main draws for this book is the fact that it is *not* a "school" story. The age group it's written for has the misfortune of constantly being subjected to stories that focus on children their own age (relatively) at school. They live through that every day, so the books often promoted to them provide them no escape from reality with the sole exception that they aren't the main character. The fact that *this* book is different is a very appealing quality.Travis' trials are honestly heartbreaking. His once-normal family is broken apart by his mother's accident - and his father's inability to deal with it. His dad throws him out because he won't work as an indentured servant for the local junk collector. The way that Travis stands up for himself says a lot about his character. The fact that he's willing to try to make it on his own because he doesn't want to settle for the horrid life his father is mapping out for him speaks to the high level of his self-esteem. Hopefully, the message that younger readers will take away from reading those aspects isn't that he's stubborn and willful, but that just because you're young doesn't mean you have no value. And, of course, that you don't have to blindly accept the worth that someone else assigns to you. These are lessons that most adults don't have down pat (hence the wage gap and economic disparity in American culture). Auch introduces these concepts subtly and doesn't undermine them.Auch's writing style is easy to read. It flows smoothly, and there's a natural progression to the elements of the story. I can definitely recommend this to anyone wanting a story with a happy - but imperfect - ending.

I am so glad that I gave this book a chance. I am a 58 year old woman who loves to read YA novels. I also play guitar, which made this story much more rich. I do have to admit that if a story doesn't catch my attention after the first 25 or so pages I sometimes just give up on it and go onto the next one. I wasn't sucked into this story because it is quite foreign to me. I have always lived in a large city and cannot relate to people who are from "the hills" but I am really glad that I stuck with it. I feel like I learned about a whole culture that has always been a mystery to me. I have read other reviews about this book and I have to agree with some of the complaints. First off, there should be more of a backstory of this family and secondly, I would love to know what happens to Travis and his family after this book ends. I am impressed that I did learn what the best wood is for an acoustic (a fact I looked up on the internet!) and I just wish there was a sequel or prequel to this one.

When I added “Guitar Boy” to my TBR pile, I remember thinking that it sounded more like a middle grade novel than a YA. That idea might have stemmed from the summary, or the knowledge that the last novel I read by M.J. Auch was one I read at fourteen and pulled from the MG section in the library. Whatever the intended audience, I finished “Guitar Boy” in a day and loved every minute of it.Travis is a fourteen year old guitar player whose life has been turned upside down in the wake of his mother’s car accident and subsequent injuries. His father is trying and failing to run the household and keep his five children fed, and a string of bad decisions leads to him throwing Travis out of the house. Travis ends up unofficially apprenticed to a local guitar-maker while he attempts to piece his life and his family back together.For an incredibly simple premise, this story had so much heart and so much personality. It wasn’t as much about music as it was about connection–to the family you’re born with and the family you choose. The people Travis meets when he’s isolated from everything he knows become as much a family to him as the one he’s left behind, and I loved watching those bonds strengthen as the story progresses. All of the characters in “Guitar Boy” felt authentic, like if you pulled off the interstate at some nowhere town in the Adirondacks you might encounter any of them.Every one of the subplots tied neatly together, from the local festival Travis helps the guitar-maker prepare for, to Travis’s own missing family heirloom guitar, to his attempts to reach his mother. The links in the overall chain of events were believable and heart-wrenching and ultimately hopeful.“Guitar Boy” is the kind of book that I want to avoid talking about too specifically, because no amount of summarizing will even begin to do the story justice. If you like quieter stories with great character development and a happier ending than you might have dared to hope for, definitely give this one a read.