Review 1:
1 Rock Star Blues is a novel written by Henry Anderson and published by Peachtree Press for young readers. This story focuses on the life of a teenager named Charlie, who is musically talented beyond his years. His country singer uncle persuades him to pursue his dreams of singing and playing the guitar, despite his young age and busy school schedule. Charlie’s parents are less than pleased with his new plans. They feel that he should put his music career on hold and focus on his studies instead. Meanwhile, Uncle Frank takes Charlie to a music festival in a neighboring town without his parents’ permission. Charlie wins a ribbon, but he fails to study for a math quiz. Charlie’s love interest, class president Cassie Miller, enjoys his music just as much as everyone else at Big Rock Middle School—but she is not a fan of failing quiz scores. Anderson has a winner with Rock Star Blues. The cover art is simple, yet striking. The story line speaks to early teens and humorously reflects middle school life. Some of the secondary characters seem a bit underdeveloped. Overall, Rock Star Blues is a genuine coming-of-age story with many important life lessons as Charlie learns to follow his dreams while staying true to himself and focusing on what is important in life.
Review 2:
2 I LOVED this book! My name is Jim and I’m a thirteen-year-old boy who can relate to Charlie’s character and many of the secondary characters in the book. I also love to play the guitar and sing. It’s super hard for me to get all of my school work done, go to basketball practice, and still have time to play the guitar. My Aunt Judy got me a gift card to the bookstore for my birthday and when I saw the cover of Rock Star Blues, I knew it was the perfect book for me. I thought the way the author wrote about Charlie’s feelings when he plays and sings was so real and so true—he really knows how a teenage boy thinks! Although, I would have liked to know what happened to Charlie after he made his decision. Rock Star Blues showed me that while school work is really important, I can still be whatever I want to be if I stay focused and work really hard.
Question
Which sentence best expresses the differing opinions of these two book reviews?
Responses
A Neither Review 1 or 2 are able to find any point of weakness in the novel and praise it as completely superior.
B While Review 1 gives the book a negative judgment, Review 2 has nothing but praise for the realism, characterization, and plotting of the novel.
C While Review 2 finds one or two negative aspects of the novel, Review 1 is entirely positive with no criticism whatever.
D Review 1 and 2 are both extremely positive about the book, but written from different perspectives--the adult and the young reader, respectively