Thursday, March 18, 2010

BitchBuzz: The Girls' Guide to Rocking

My latest column for BitchBuzz is a review of a book that I sooooooo wish I had when I was a teen, though it's incredibly useful even now. I just want to see an explosion of girl bands after The Runaways movie opens tomorrow (oh yes, I am so going to be in the audience at the first show!). Buy this book for a girl you know!



When The Runaways movie opens this Friday, girls across the globe will doubtless be inspired to start their own bands like those plucky gals back in the 1970s (oh god, let's hope they don't bring back the fashions).

Fortunately, those girls have an excellent guide to make that impulse a reality. With a pull quote from Joan Jett on its cover, The Girls' Guide to Rocking asserts its authenticity, which it lives up to in the accessible yet detailed information inside.

Where was this book when I was a teen?! Jessica Hopper knows of what she speaks and has assembled an astute guide to everything you need to know in order to make the dream of being a rock-n-roll star real. The book is gorgeously designed with (green not pink, hurrah!) sidebars with photos of rock stars (many, but not all of them, women) and inspiring pull quotes as well as checklists for the various topics. It's written in lively and direct prose that will engage a young reader, though she'll probably flip around a lot to find what she needs at any given moment...


Read the rest at BBHQ and really, buy a copy!

I'm in the midst of a non-stop week of events and tasks: the days are just packed. Much writing to do, more mundane work as well, and only the same amount of time in which to do it. On the plus side, I saw a draft of the new cover for Pelzmantel by artist Ruby that just made me swoon with delight. Ruby designs the most of the covers for Storm's books, so she was my first choice. Hurrah! I'm so excited for the June release, but there is much to get done before then, including the essay on medieval magic. It's coming along, but I've been working on it piecemeal, so I need to sit down with it and make sure it's actually coherent.

It takes all the running I can do just to stay in the same place these days...

9 comments:

Isabel Roman said...

When I saw the link on Twitter I thought it said rockeTing...but this is way cooler! I don't know the movie, but let us know how you enjoy it!

C. Margery Kempe said...

Hey thanks, Isabel! Rocketing would be cool, too! You may not know The Runaways, but I'l bet you've head of Joan Jett who was part of the band as a wee teen. Bust has their review up already.

I must admit when I hear "Cherry Bomb" I instantly picture not The Runaways or even Shonen Knife, but my pal Perilous Cheryl fronting Mad Cow Disease. Awesome!

Todd Mason said...

Given how much of a joke the band the Runaways was taken for (unjustly), it's pretty impressive how many of its members went on to sustained careers (even if the sustenance wasn't all that nourishing). Showtime was showing the film FOXES, with Cherie Currie they were careful to note, this morning...and then there's Jett, Lita Ford, Michael Steele (most famously a member and ex-member of the Bangles), et al.

Todd Mason said...

Or, as I meant to write, the sustenance wasn't in every case all that nourishing.

C. Margery Kempe said...

Yeah, they were dismissed and misused and poorly prepared and exploited but damn, strong enough to mostly survive it and even thrive.

FOXES! I haven't seen that in years. The first non-kiddie/really-a-teen role for Jodie Foster, if I recall correctly.

Todd Mason said...

I'd give that to THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE, one of those films (like Runaways' analog film LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS star Diane Lane's A LITTLE ROMANCE, or RICH KIDS) that actually "spoke" to me as an adolescent of similar age to the actors. (PRIVATE LESSONS, THE BLUE LAGOON...not so much...)

C. Margery Kempe said...

I love that movie! Also haven't seen it in ages, but that was an early we-just-cable-movie which we watched ad infinitum (also BUGSY MALONE and PHANTASM, the latter not actually featuring Jodie Foster, LOL).

C. Margery Kempe said...

Blogger is having issues!

Todd Mason said...

DOWN THE LANE holds up pretty well. I haven't seen RICH KIDS nor A LITTLE ROMANCE since we all were that age, so have less a sense of their quality. Managed to miss PHANTASM till I was an adult, and I might've dug it more as a kid. Never have sat through BUGSY MALONE, but made up for that in other ways, I'm sure...