Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Y'all I'm in tears right now. In a lot of ways, Hazel's asexuality and aromanticism were such a small part of this book but god I wish I had this rep as a kid. I wish I had someone like Mimi who could recognize what I was(n't) feeling and tell me "There are so many good ways to be in this world." I love that even if Hazel doesn't fully get it yet, Mimi is still determined not to let it go unsaid because she'll get it eventually. And she'll remember that conversation and know her mom supports show more her and who she is and what she wants and just. This is some damn fine aroace rep for kids. I'm not gonna get over it anytime soon.

Like this is basically everything I've wanted to see in a kid's book since I figured out my sexuality. Representation at all stages of life is so. fucking. important. Finding your place in the world and a full understanding of yourself is so hard when you don't know what all the options are. When no one tells you it's okay to just opt out. That other people's experiences don't have to be your own. I'm just so glad this book exists for kids today. It's a gift to the world that I'm so grateful we were given. show less

I loved this! It was sweet and kind and charming and had some terrible puns in it.

Melly goes away to camp with her best friend Olivia. But the day before she leaves, her parents tell her they are getting divorced. And once at camp, she has to work out how to navigate her friendship as they both make new friends and fall in love.

The camp is lovely. There's a great sense of singing round the campfire, diving into the lake, canoeing, and looking up at the stars framed by trees. It's a music show more camp - Camp Rockaway - and the music is also fun, as the campers explore a range of styles and learn to play together as a band, express themselves through music, and do their final concert.

Melly and Adeline's love story is super cute - they meet, and click, and have lots of sweet moments together, playing music together, learning to dive, sitting in a swing-chair looking at the rain, comforting each other about sad things going on in their families.

One of the things I loved about this was that it managed to shy away from a lot of heavy handed black-and-white things into a much more subtle and nuanced view of friendships. I thought it might be a 'Melly has to learn to ditch her overly controlling friend Olivia to be with her New Love'. But in fact, it is 'Melly and Olivia need to talk to each other, and work through their mistakes, and make sure their friendship has room in it for them to have other things they value, but that they're still there for each other too.' And I found it really interesting what they did with the 'nervous person with a crush suddenly kisses you' - the book shows it from the side of 'when it's someone you fancy' and 'when it's someone you don't', and the cute couple actually end up having a gentle 'oh, err, sorry, I should have asked' reflective 'how could we do things better'. No-one is perfect, and everyone is forgivable, and it leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling that even though the world can be hard, everything is probably going to be OK. show less

4.4 stars out of 5

Melly wants to enjoy her time at Camp Rockaway but all she can think about is everything that is going wrong in her life. Her parents are getting a divorce, she embarrassed herself in front of everyone at camp, and her best friend, Olivia, who she thought she could always count on, suddenly abandons her for a cute boy. However, maybe things aren’t so bad. With Olivia absent she can spend more time with Adeline. The girl she has a crush on.

Drum Roll, Please is about show more finding the beat of your own drum (pun intended). About taking risks and letting go even when it is scary. Bigelow does a beautiful job portraying these anxieties through Melly’s actions and thoughts. Everything she does (or doesn’t) is because she’s scared to fail and disappoint others.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the romance between Melly and Adeline. At the start, Melly has an idealized image of Adeline. However, the more they get to know each other Melly starts to see Adeline’s true self. She realizes that Adeline is not perfect, she has issues of her own. It shows to not judge a book by its cover because even the most perfect seeming people have struggles. show less

children's middlegrade fiction (divorce, friendship competing with boys, music summer camp in Michigan/lake country, incidental LGBTQA interest) - grades 5th-7th
I loved spending time with Melly, and watching her find her voice rather than just banging out her feelings on the drums--she longs to speak up for herself (inventing a new nickname, Lissa, instead of one that rhymes with belly and jelly) but has trouble telling her best friend and her parents how she feels. She's very relatable and show more real-feeling, and yes, I did have to cry at the end.
The crush she develops on another girl at camp is incidental--not a huge part of the story, but one of the things she eventually talks about. They don't do much other than hold hands and kiss a couple times, and at this age Melly isn't sure how she wants to label herself yet, but she does know that she is attracted to Adeline. There is also a great conversation on asking consent before kissing someone, so bonus points for that. show less