by Libba Bray
First sentence: “Years from now, when my screaming fans ask, Hey Bowie, how’d you get to be such a superstar, I’ll say: It all started with a stolen radio station.”
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Release date: October 6, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing (I don’t remember any f-bombs), as well as talk of teenage sex and drinking. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore. (I will have to put it in the Historical Fiction area, which kind of makes me cringe. I’m old.)

Bowie James Jones (Boo-ie, not BOW-ie) is a high school senior in a small North Texas town, but he really doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. His mom wants him to go to college, he knows, but he’s not sure he’s ready. Then, on the first day of school, the girl Bowie has a crush on sets off a firecracker, and Bowie decides to take the fall for her. From there, he’s sentenced to 100 hours of community service, and he chooses to do it at KEYN, a small, struggling radio station run by one Marlon Mardell, an eccentric Vietnam Vet with a huge knowledge of music. This changes Bowie’s trajectory: he discovers not only his love for music, but a talent for talking on the radio.

But it’s about more, too. Bowie ropes in his friends – both new and old – and they discover, together, what it means to be friends, to fall in love for the first time, and how to grow up.

I loved this. It was very Breakfast Club – a group of kids who wouldn’t normally hang out, being together and finding things to like about each other – but with awesome music. Bray pulls out all the stops when it comes to songs: there are lots I’ve heard of, but many I haven’t. And she leans into the importance of music in one’s life, the idea of lying down in the dark with a record playing and just letting the music wash over you. I don’t think people experience music like that much anymore, and there is something life-changing about it. I also appreciated reading a well-written YA book! I don’t know if it’s just me, or if the quality of prose has gotten worse, but I didn’t ever feel like Bray was simplifying things or talking down to her readers. She knows her audience; she is comfortable writing for YA, and she’s good at it. All of which came through.

Now you’re going to have to excuse me while I go put on a record, turn off the lights, and enjoy the magic that is music.