Hopepunk

Sisters Faith and Hope Cassidy, both white, are best friends, but when science fiction enthusiast Faith, 17, is outed as gay by devout younger sister Charity, and their conservative Christian mother decides to send her to conversion therapy, Faith disappears. To cope, Hope, 15, who has recently discovered a passion for punk rock, begins singing. After classmate and fellow musician Danny, also white, is kicked out of his own home for being gay, the grieving, newly reformed Cassidy family takes him in. He and Hope join forces with Angus, who is Black and gay, and Vietnamese American Astrid Nguyen to form Hope Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, a band dedicated to hope, progressive disruption, and taking on the bigoted band Alt-Rite in their Wyoming school’s annual Battle of the Bands. Flimsy characterizations, unresolved side plots, and a lack of clear motivation behind ideological shifts undercut the book’s believability and political message. What it lacks in nuance, though, Norton’s (Where I End and You Begin) novel of political engagement makes up for in sharp humor, an infectious love of music, and an encouraging message: with hope, change is always possible. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jenny Bent, the Bent Agency. (Jan.)