Every Time You Hear That Song

Starred review from January 29, 2024
A bisexual teen reporter uncovers the unsung love story of a closeted woman from her small town’s past in this layered exploration of ambition, partnership, and journalistic ethics told via evocatively rendered dual POVs. Neither pursuing journalism nor coming out seem possible for Darren Purchase—at least, not if she stays in Mayberry, Ark. When she learns that her favorite musician—late “country-pop icon” Decklee Cassel—left behind a treasure hunt leading to an unreleased album secretly cowritten with her estranged songwriting partner, Mickenlee Hooper, and a $3 million prize, Darren jumps at the chance to snag financial independence. Embarking on a road trip with a classmate she knows “in the same shallow, superficial way I know everyone in Mayberry,” Darren hunts for the album—and the scoop behind Decklee and Mickenlee’s relationship. But revelations about her idol and her traveling companion force Darren to reconsider her goals and what leaving Mayberry might really cost. Through alternating past and present first-person narratives following morally ambiguous “wildfire girl” Decklee and ingenuous Darren respectively, Voris (Made of Stars) teases out tension between a longing for privacy and a desire to live and love out loud in this messy, complicated search for community. Protagonists read as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Claire Friedman, InkWell Management.