On Tour: The Backup Singer-What is the Color of Friendship

On Tour

by Barb Huff

Shanice Stevenson is a great singer--so good that she once sang lead for the talented garage band she and some friends have successfully pulled together. But when beautiful, blonde Jenna Rose Brinley takes over as lead, Shanice is content to step out of the spotlight--that is, until her cousin moves in. Tonya, troubled by a family divorce, teases the biracial Shanice about her lack of black friends and convinces Shanice that her replacement as lead singer was due to race. Soon, Shanice rejects her friends from the band--until in a time of crisis, she finds nowhere else to go. Relevant and current, The Backup Singer shows teens that God's love and true friendship can resolve the tensions of society.

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shanice never saw herself as different until her cousin starts pointing out how different she looks because she's black while her friends are white. This book was interesting in that respect and also because the was so much more to the situation than just skin difference. It takes a while but it seems there is more growing on with Shanice's cousin and her discouragement than just racial differences. I liked how there was more going on with her than just being a jerky girl, that there was a reason and a growth experience for the cousin. I could also understand the distance and the feeling of not being part of the group that Shanice feels at one point. One thing that did make it difficult to completely engage with the book was that Shanice started bitter and angry, not that I never read a book like that but it might have been too much with very little positive stuff for a while. Still trying to find the last book in this series and I'm looking forward to it.