I Am Drums

Reviewed by: Paula Johnson - Long Island Community Library, Long Island, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 9, 2017

Review

"If I had one wish, I'd ask for a headphone jack in my head." So begins this middle grade book of a spunky sixth grader, Sam, who dreams of capturing the drum beats she hears constantly in her head and turning them into drum music for all. The author has drawn a strong, likeable, sometimes too feisty girl, who is determined to follow her dreams against all odds. She needs to deal with her family's financial hardships, her school's elimination of music programming, the usual middle school friendship problems, and her self created problems by not being truthful. In other words, Sam, is a pretty typical middle schooler, dealing with becoming a young adult. Her story intertwined with her passion for drumming will appeal to many young readers, both male and female, who "hear" the music in their heads and want to share it with the world, while not letting that same music drown out the other voices that need to be heard.

Overall Book Score: very good