Fifteen young adult authors and one real-life rock star band together for one epic—and interconnected—take on a memorable high school rite of passage. A daughter of rock ’n’ roll royalty has a secret crush. A lonely ticket taker worries about his sister. An almost-famous songwriter nurses old wounds. A stage manager tires of being behind the scenes. A singer-songwriter struggles to untangle her feelings for her best friend and his girlfriend. In this live-out-loud anthology, the disparate protagonists of sixteen stories are thrown together for one unforgettable event: their high school’s battle of the bands. Told in a harmonic blend of first- and third-person narrative voices, roughly chronological short stories offer a kaleidoscopic view of the same transformative night. Featuring an entry from Justin Courtney Pierre, lead vocalist of Motion City Soundtrack, Battle of the Bands is a celebration of youth, music, and meeting the challenges of life head-on. With stories by Brittany Cavallaro, Preeti Chhibber, Jay Coles, Katie Cotugno, Lauren Gibaldi, Shaun David Hutchinson, Ashley Poston, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Sarah Nicole Smetana, Eric Smith, Jenn Marie Thorne, Sarvenaz Taghavian, Jasmine Warga, Ashley Woodfolk, and Jeff Zentner, and featuring Motion City Soundtrack’s Justin Courtney Pierre.

There's a talent contest at the Retroville Elementary School, and Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen each aim to win it, but Cindy and Libby have their eyes on the prize as well.

In order to win a legendary haunted guitar, Emily is determined to create the most rockin’ song the world has ever known . . . but can she do it solo? Emily isn’t known for playing well with others, but she’s going to have to rely on the help of some Strangers if she’s going to succeed on her musical journey to the true heart of rock ’n’ roll! Collects the three issue miniseries. * An Emily the Strange feature film is currently in development.

What was it like to play music in a teenage rock and roll band in the era of 45-RPM records, dances in the school cafeteria, and the Beatles on AM radio? Band Boys reveals the inner workings of the lives of the Blue Beats - six teenage boys mastering music in a thriving town that embraced them and the music they loved. Sporting Silvertone amplifiers, a pack of electric guitars, a used set of drums, a screaming Farfisa organ, and unbridled enthusiasm, the Blue Beats plunge headlong into the teenage band craze of the 1960s. Find the band boys dancing as Order of the Arrow braves, working in fast food restaurants, inspired by school music teachers, encouraged by an optimistic Boy Scout leader, and supported by wise council from families. Uncovering the secret behind forming a band and keeping it alive, Band Boys tells more than a story of boys, bands, and music but portrays a legacy created from human relationships and built on events that bind lives together. To round out Band Boys, concise biographies of popular musicians and musical instrument developers, plus a unique glossary are provided.

In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.

This classroom resource provides teachers with a strong foundation in the elements of persuasive writing. In the 21st century classroom, the skills and strategies required to effectively evaluate and compose opinions has never been greater. This book discusses why teaching persuasive writing is relevant and beneficial to the target age groups, and includes resources to help grades 6-8 students examine multiple views on a topic and write their own informed, effective opinions and arguments. Persuasive writing provides students with an avenue to examine a topic, develop informed views, express their opinions, and defend their ideas with logical, evidence-based reasoning. This resource takes a unique approach to the topic of teaching persuasive writing with an effective combination of tips, strategies, and resources. With mentor texts, student writing samples, rubrics, lesson plans, and questions to assess professional growth at the end of each section, teachers will learn why persuasive writing is so important in today's classrooms, and how to tackle the challenge of teaching it. This book includes: 21 persuasive writing strategies; 10 lesson plans; student writing samples; mentor texts; anchor charts.