David Chadwick:

SHAKING by (Scholastic $15.95) Ian's band is the best in the school, and he and his three mates are shooting for the rock quest. Everything's looking sweet, until Ian's best friend Marko brings Rachel along to a practice, and everything suddenly becomes complicated. The feisty, manipulative newcomer arouses passions of all kinds and, just as it experiences its finest moment, the band and the friendships it embodies start to fall apart.

This is a tense, powerful story about teenagers facing issues of friendship, loyalty and responsibility. How do you manage schoolwork when music and friends seem so much more important; and is it a sellout to accept a compromise between art and the boring demands of making a living? What do you do when a friend is going off the rails?

Chadwick's characters and dialogue have extraordinary reality; the relationships are gracefully and truthfully drawn. A page-turning pleasure to read.