Jennifer Shanahan's Reviews > The Tunes of Lenore

I thought this book was kind of odd. Ella is a California high school junior sent to a boarding school by her parents because they need time to work out their problems. The school is very rustic where the few students that there are have to do all sorts of chores like gardening, chopping/getting wood to heat water for the showers and their rooms (which are not heated--neither is the water). It is a school where they have classes but much of the curriculum is outdoors--the kids live in cabins with their pets and there is little supervision. At first Ella thinks it is weird but the longer she is there the more she fits in. She plays her old fiddle, Lenore, as an escape which help her think and her dog is also very helpful and soothing. She deals with a lot of normal adolescent issues like her boyfriend, her roommate, school projects (about urine) and some not normal like unwanted attention from a teacher and her family issues. She matures and deals with them as an adult, slowly as the story progresses. Also in this book everyone is wearing/using PHONEGLASSES. What are those? I have never heard of them. Maybe they are a California thing and not in the Midwest yet?Throughout the book, there are pictures scattered of things that Ella thinks and encounters which is kind of different and a little weird (some of the pictures too). The writing is decent but kind of choppy. Good if you are looking for something different--a quick, interesting read. Thanks to NG for the ARC!