The Road To You by Alecia Whitaker

The Road To You is the second installment in Whitaker's Wildflower series about fictional country music star, Bird Barrett.

Bird's debut album, Wildflower, has been out for two months and has been selling well. Signed by Dan Silver of Open Highway Records, Bird's days are organized by her publicist, Anita, who guides her through appearances. She also has a stylist, Amanda, a hair stylist, Tammy and a make-up artist, Sam traveling with her.

The story opens as Bird, her father/manager, her mother Aileen and her two brothers, Dylan and Jacob, jet to Omaha where Bird is the new opening act for country superstar, Jolene Taylor. During the flight, Bird reads online that Kayelee Ford, who was signed by Randall Strong of Great American Music, has a hot first single. Just like Bird, Kayelee is a promising new country singer. She is also shocked to discover that a tabloid has done a side-by-side comparison of her and Kayelee, in an attempt to create a rivalry between the two singers.

In Omaha, Bird meets and practices with her back-up band. Grateful to have the opportunity to open for Jolene, Bird attempts to thank her but finds Jolene somewhat distant. Bird's best friend, Stella Crossley, shows up along with her mother, Shannon who has mentored Bird, to watch her set. Missing Adam, the guy she fell in love with back home and gave up in order to pursue her music career, Bird has Stella text him just before going on stage. Adam responds by wishing her well. Her first opening is a great success leaving Bird completely overwhelmed. As she's recovering backstage she briefly encounters a handsome roadie. Bird and her mother also meet a famous country singer, Bonnie McLain. Bonnie advises Bird about life as a star telling her "Everybody loves you, but nobody knows you....It's just very important that through it all, you remember who you really are."

The next day Bird meets the roadie again at lunch and learns his name is Kai Chandler. Bird and Kai immediately connect over their love of music. Kai's easy going manner sets Bird at ease. From Omaha Bird and her entourage head out as part of Jolene's Sweet Home Tour to Los Angeles. Kai who is from L.A. gives Bird a list of places to visit when she arrives.

In L.A. Anita suggests to Bird that she consider moving to the city for part of the year so as to open up more music opportunities. Later on both Dan and Anita suggest to to Bird that she consider hiring a real manager to replace her dad. Dan also believes Bird should move to L.A. so she can eventually transition from country to mainstream. Bird is reluctant to consider any of their suggestions though, becoming upset about replacing her father.

At her first red carpet event, a film premiere that features one of her songs, Bird meets the leading actors, Jason Samuels and Devyn Delaney. Devyn and Jason were an item until only a few weeks ago. Bird is star struck over Devyn and her knowledge of people in Hollywood and quickly begins to realize that LA is definitely not Nashville.

Bird's relationship with Kai begins to heat up and she begins to slip more and more into the L.A. scene. But with all the stardom, the sudden wealth and publicity can Bird still hold on to who she really is?

Discussion

While the first novel, Wildflower focused on Bird's attempts to break into the country music scene, the second novel focuses on her life as a blossoming country music artist and the good and bad that brings with it.

In The Road To You, Bird must learn how to navigate the world of stardom. Through the character of Bird, Whitaker portrays the life of a rising music star including the many difficulties young artists experience. Bird quickly begins to experience first hand how being in the spotlight impacts her life. When her new friend, actress Devyn Delaney takes a picture of Bird holding a glass of champagne and posts it online, it causes some fallout for Bird. Her father is upset, fearing it will hurt her image and her rival takes advantage of the picture to criticize her. Bird defends herself, knowing she did nothing wrong even though the photo seems to show her drunk. Bird tells her father, "I did make the smart decision not to drink and yeah, it looks bad and I'm sorry, Dad. I really am. But you can tell Dan and Anita and Mom and stupid Kayalee Ford and whoever else cares so much about my life that you know the truth. I didn't get drunk last night. I didn't."

Bird begins to realize how difficult it is to maintain a relationship with someone. Her relationship with Kai takes off very quickly when they are on tour together but once he leaves and she's home first in Nashville and then in Los Angeles, the distance and the difference in their lives and ages work against them. Complicating things is the realization that Bird still has feelings for Adam.

She also starts to realize how easy it is to be influenced by others. Devyn takes Bird shopping on Rodeo Drive. At first Bird is reluctant to buy anything. "I'm eager to join in the fun - hey, why not? -- until I see the price tags. Some of this stuff costs four times as much as we'd make for a Barrett Family Band gig...and that had to feed five people!...So I resist the urge to shop for myself and try to be a good audience for Devyn without admitting to her that my parents would go nuts if I dropped this kind of change on my wardrobe." However later on, Devyn convinces Bird to spend the money that she has earned. Devyn tells her "It's not about needing anything, Bird. It's about celebrating your success." When Bird tells her her parents would kill her for spending this kind of money Devyn tells her "It's your money...And you're working your butt off for it, too." In the end, Bird drops nine thousand dollars on clothing, shoes and purses, much to the shock of her parents. Bird must deal with her parents disappointment. 

Bird begins to experience the competitive nature of the music industry as exemplified by the tabloids creating a rivalry between herself and Kaylee Ford who was signed by the producer Bird turned down. Adam brings some perspective to the situation when he tells her that Kayelee is not responsible for what is happening and that her label has pitted the two of them against each other.  He reminds Bird that her parents have put enormous pressure on Kayelee and that this has created a strong fear of failing in her.  "And I just don't see how the bad blood helps either of you," he says, shrugging. "Seems like a waste of energy and a huge distraction to me." The situation is made worse by the fact that the one person she thought was her friend - Devyn sets her up for a confrontation with Kayelee at a friend's New Years Eve party.

One strong theme in this novel is that of friendship. Both Stella Crossley and Adam demonstrate that they are Bird's true friends. While Devyn gossips about Kayelee and manipulates Bird into a confrontation with her rival, Stella is there to try to encourage Bird to step back and to leave the party. Similarly Adam encourages Bird to "not get lost in it" referring to the constant scrutiny.

However, the novel closes with Bird beginning to regain her balance, setting the stage for a highly anticipated third novel. Look for Bird to restart her relationship with Adam, to become friends with Kayelee and to come to terms with her life as a celebrity.

Readers will enjoy Whitaker continuing to present Bird Barrett as a positive role model; she's honest, she cares about the people around her, she remains true to her belief that she wants to wait for the person who will be her life partner and she struggles to remain true to who she is.

Book Details:

The Road To You by Alecia Whitaker
New York: Little, Brown and Company      2015
337 pp.

Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker

Wildflower is a fun, refreshingly clean novel about a sixteen year old girl navigating the world of country music and on the threshold of stardom.

Sixteen year old Bird Barrett is part of a family of musicians, the Barrett Family Band who play bluegrass and tour around the southern United States. Besides her mom and dad, Bird shares the family Winnebago with her two older brothers. Her dad sings and plays banjo, her mom the mandolin, nineteen year old Dylan plays guitar and seventeen year old Jacob is on bass while Bird plays violin. Bird has a big crush on nineteen year old Adam Dean, a close friend of Jacob and another young musician who plays the circuit. Bird considers Adam to be a talented musician and every time their paths cross, she excited to catch up with him again but she's not sure if he feels the same about her.

Bird's family ventured into music after the death of her brother Caleb from a drowning accident. If not for his death they likely would still be living in their two-storey home in Jackson, their father working as a real estate agent. But music saved Bird's family; it was suggested by their pastor that they take up a hobby, something they could do together as a family. So her father returned to playing the banjo, purchased some gently used instruments from a music story and the Barret Family Band was born. Dylan played steel-stringed acoustic guitar, Jacob took up the bass, and Bird's other played the mandolin. Bird chose the fiddle. After Bird won a fiddling competition and Dylan had a successful performance at the school talent show, their father Judd began signing them up to play at local festivals. They've been on the road for the last seven years, ever since Bird was nine.

When Bird's father becomes ill before their next gig in Nashville, she is told she will have to sing lead vocals at the Station Inn. Bird loves music but she's never sung lead before. At first she's nervous but she manages to get through the gig with the help of her family. Afterwards, Bird and her father are approached by a talent scout, Randall Strong, from Great American Music in Nashville. Randall wants to sign Bird to a contract with GAM. Although thrilled, Bird is concerned that this leaves her family missing an essential part of the family band, and for Dylan who passed on college to tour with them.

While the rest of the family vacations in North Carolina with Gramma, Bird and her father meet with Randall who arranges for Bird to do a spot at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. After a successful gig "in the round", Randall attempts to sign Bird that night with GAM. Judd however wants to look over the contract. On their way out of the club, the are approached by another talent scout, Dan Silver who is president of a small record company, Open Highway Records. Bird likes Dan who talks to her and explains that if she signs with GAM she will be churning out the same stuff that's being produced everywhere and her unique talent will be lost. He tells them GAM will "try to package you to fit into their pop image and new-country sound." After discussions with Dan, Bird and her father decide to sign with Open Highway.

This means putting the Barrett Family Band on hold while Bird records her first single, shoots a video and gets an image makeover. Shannon Crossley, one of the singers at the Bluebird Cafe, helps Bird rewrite her Notice Me song about wanting her friend Adam to notice her. Shannon's daughter, Stella, soon becomes Bird's best friend. Stella helps Bird reach out and connect with Adam, encouraging her to text him.

As Bird's music career begins to evolve, Dylan struggles to accept what is happening and that he is being left behind. A good musician in his own right, he is struggling with feeling of jealousy and pride. At her release party for her single, Notice Me, Bird encounters Randall who tells her that he has signed a new talent who will be stiff competition.

Eventually texts and phone calls with Adam lead to Bird taking time out of her hectic schedule to have breakfast with him at a pancake house. Bird tells Adam that GAM originally was interested in her but she signed with Open Highway because they led her to believe that she would have more artistic control. However, Adam makes her realize that this is not the case, as evidenced by the change in her appearance, and the difficult time she had convincing them to allow her family to play on her album.

During their catch up time Adam reveals that GAM has just signed a new country singer, Kayelee Ford and that he has been offered a gig to play at her release party in a few weeks. Shocked, Bird questions Adam about making music for someone else but he tells her he wants to settle down and doesn't like the road life. In an attempt to head off what Bird thinks is the possibility that she will lose Adam, she makes him an offer to play on her album although she knows this is highly unlikely. They part with Bird promising to come see Adam play at the 5 Spot in a few weeks.

However, several events occur that soon drive a wedge between Bird and Adam. The first is a set up by her publicist, Anita, with a hot movie star designed to create some publicity as her new single climbs the charts. The second is Bird's well-intentioned decision to help out best friend Stella's high school fund-raiser catches her trouble with Dan Silver and causes her to miss Adam's gig at the 5 Spot. The third is the break-up of the Barrett Family Band with her brothers both applying for college. Can Bird possibly cope with the turmoil in her life and her rocket rise to stardom?

Discussion

The warm, attractive cover of Wildflower invites readers into a touching story about a young girl getting her big break into the music world while struggling to come to terms with the changes that break brings to both her family and her personal life. Bird never imagined herself having the life of a musician, it wasn't something she'd worked towards. Life was simple, just she and her family touring, enjoying making music in small towns, and crushing on a cute boy who seemed to like her.

Wildflower is the first in a three book series about the fictional Bird Barrett's rise to country stardom. Originally Bird starts out playing fiddle, but the cover shows her holding a guitar, perhaps representative of how Bird doesn't quite stay true to herself in the novel. Although Dan Silver stated that his label would not repackage her, that is in fact exactly what they do to Bird. They replace her beloved violin, Maybelle, with a fancy guitar, make her a red head and her publicist even sets her up with a hot, young movie star to garner her some publicity. Instead of being backed by her family, Bird has seasoned session musicians perform on her album. It is her muse, Adam Dean, who inadvertently makes her aware of this, yet Bird seems to ignore this. When she tries to step outside of the boundaries Dan Silver has placed her in, by playing her fiddle at the fundraiser at Stella's school, she's taken to task for it. Not yet mature enough to fully understand who she is, Bird apologizes to Dan and Anita. Ironically, it is Bird doing what she does best, singing and fiddling, that results in her trending on Twitter and getting a ton of publicity. It will be interesting to see how Whitaker develops the theme of identity and the conflict that seems to be building between Bird and Dan over their different visions of Bird as a country music singer.

Whitaker has created well developed characters who interact in a believable way in situations that seem realistic. Especially well done is the lunch Bird has with famous movie idol, Jason Samuels.  They behave as two young people who don't know each other and who have basically been set up on a blind date would - they struggle to find common ground and have a conversation. Based on Jason's actions, Bird realizes that he's is not the plastic movie star he's made out to be.  "...even though all the characters Jason plays in movies make him seem like just another pretty face, now that we're two regular people hanging out in a coffee shop, I realize there's a little more depth to him than I'd figured. He's really a nice, if slightly quirky, guy." 

Bird is a typical teenager with teenager interests that include music, worries about how to attract the interest of a cute guy she's crushing on, shopping and hanging with her new best friend.The descriptions of how important her music is to her are well done. Her best friend, Stella, is a caring person who understands Bird's world of music and offers her a sympathetic ear.

Wildflower has a bit of everything that makes it work; there is the interesting hook of a young girl being discovered and on the verge of stardom, a touch of romance and a bit of conflict. The novel ends on a somewhat sad note, with Bird struggling to find comfort in her music, creating a perfect lead into the next novel.

Book Details:
Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker
New York: Poppy, Hachette Book Group    2014
304 pp.