Author: Valerie Thomas
Genre: Auburn – Outcasts & Underdogs
Auburn: Outcasts and Underdogs follows a group of unpopular high school freshmen as they start a band and grow. The story is centered around and is narrated by Ashley Nimzovitch. We follow her as she battles with bullying, struggles with her identity, becomes a competent musician and navigates her first relationship. Some truly defining experiences for someone young and inexperienced.
Auburn: Outcasts and Underdogs is eloquently penned. The space in which the story takes place is described and familiarized to the readers in ways that truly ground and authenticate it, offering a vivid experience of the text. The characters are familiarized and painted in the same manner, clearly defined and credible – from the way they act, to the things they say and the kind of relationships they have with each other. The flow of events couldn’t be more natural and life-like, the way Valerie Thomas depicts time, routine, events and progress is seamless and connected. This makes Auburn: Outcasts and Underdog a very compelling and engaging read. One could easily forget that this is a work of fiction because of how verisimilar it is, Ashley Nimzovitch reads more like an articulate teen chronicling her life in a private diary than a fictional character. And that is powerful.
Valerie Thomas has succeed here, I felt everything she had done here was well-placed. I found myself moved to tears in some bits, hurled back into my high school years in others and forced to reflect on being an artists, human relationships, change and growth. Auburn: Outcasts and Underdogs reads like the perfect indie movie.
Rating: 4/5
Sandy Author 