Having been somewhat of a rebellious teen, I always enjoy reading about other folks who perused their own dreams in spite of nonsupport from the responsible grownups around them! I've never bought into "we know best", "it's for your own good" tripe grownups used to dole out. Follow your dreams kids! Great YA story.

A cute story about a 14 year old that wants to be a singer. I really enjoyed this story. I liked that she wanted to play Irish music and not be a popstar. The writing was fun. This was a cute story about going after your dreams. 3.5 stars.

This is a really cute Young Adult novel! A teenage fiddler fights to pursue her talent against her mother who wants her to study classical violin.
Rose Callaghan wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and study folk music and fiddling in college. When her music group travels to a folk festival, Rose finds music beyond her dreams, disaster and her deep calling to be a fiddler. If only her mother could see it.

Offbeat was a good read. I liked how it felt like a realistic story and wasn't too silly. The musical aspect was fun and the ending was not what I expected. It was a short read, but wasn't boring. I enjoyed the book and recommend it if you like YA reads.

*I received a complimentary eBook copy of this book for my honest review. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

This is a story about a girl who loves music and her violin, but there's one thing in her way, her mom. Rose doesn't understand why her mom won't let her play the kind of music she wants, especially when it's the kind of music her father used to play. Rose just wants her mom to see how much she loves folk music and how hard she's willing to work for it.



I really liked reading this book because you could feel Rose's passion for folk music and how bad she wanted her mom to understand. The author did a good job of highlighting all of Rose's emotions and feelings. I didn't really like the relationship between Rose and her mom. I felt like they should have been closer than they were considering (you'll have to read it to understand what I mean). Other than that this was a great book. I would definitely like to read more from this author.





Thank you NetGalley and Orca Books Publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was not able to find this on Goodreads, so feedback was not left. This was a very cute story, great for middle grades. The ending was a little sudden and some of the issues were not explored in the depth I would have appreciated, but it was a good debut book. I think most kids in grades 7-9 would enjoy this.

My review will be published on Aug. 20, 2018, at https://thebaronessofbooks.weebly.com

Thank you to Orca Books and Netgalley for offering me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Offbeat is about a girl named Rose, who travels to a folk festival with her fiddle group, and the goal of proving to her mom that she’s serious about music. I thought the premise was cute, but overall the story didn’t seem to have much depth to me. The conflicts seemed to be wrapped up soon after they were presented, so Rose didn’t have much going on to make the reader root for her. I appreciated that she seemed to learn from her mistakes, but I think some of her transitions were rather dramatic, to have gone so quickly in a short book. Overall, I think Offbeat is a fun light read, but not as interesting as it could have been, so it’s earned 3 stars from me.

Offbeat
by Megan Clendenan
Orca Book Publishers

Children's Fiction , Teens & YA
Pub Date 28 Aug 2018


I am reviewing OffBeat through Orca House Publishers and Netgalley:


Rose is fourteen year olds and with her best friend Shilo by her side she believes she can become a folk music sensation, the problem is convincing her Mom to continue to pay for her expensive violin lessons.



Rose’s Mothet wants her to focus on classical music in preparation for college. She wants her to join the youth choir.


Rose decides to enter a fiddle competition and win the unique surprise in hopes that her Mom will see that she can make it as a folk musician.


I give OffBeat five or of five stars!


Happy Reading!