Music From Another World

Written by Robin Talley

Narrated by Jayme Mattler and Lauren Sweet

‘An utter joy to read’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars

The brand-new novel from the 2020 CILIP Carnegie medal nominee and New York Times bestseller, Robin Talley.

*************************************************************

‘I’m just so sick of blending in…’

It’s 1977, and the USA is tearing itself apart. And so is Tammy Larson.

Seventeen and scared, Tammy has a secret that her strict community and conservative family must never find out; one that she’s only ever shared in unposted letters to her hero, Harvey Milk. She’s gay.

Hundreds of miles away, Tammy’s new pen pal is dealing with a few secrets of her own. Sharon Hawkins lives in foggy San Francisco, an exciting city full of protests and punk music. But as the letters pile up in her desk drawer, Sharon begins to realise that her world might not be that different to Tammy’s after all…

Set to a soundtrack of Bowie, Blondie and a whole lot of Patti Smith, the girls’ worlds converge in ways they could never have imagined. With a fierce sense of rebellion and a feminist attitude to boot, Tammy and Sharon soon discover what it means to be their true selves, and one thing’s for sure: they’re both sick of blending in.

The perfect empowering and life-affirming read for fans of Caitlin Moran, Becky Albertalli and Meredith Russo.

*************************************************************
Praise for Music from Another World:

‘Difficult to put down… an empowering read with a powerful message’ Paper Lanterns

‘Absolutely LOVED it! So funny and romantic and incredibly tense’ Tom Ellen

Praise for Robin Talley’s previous novels:

‘The main characters are terrific in what is a moving novel. And an important one.’ The Telegraph

‘absolutely loved it – romantic and funny and gripping and just generally excellent!’ Tom Ellen, author of Freshers

‘touching, clever and absolutely hilarious’ The Herald

‘I really loved the book… it was just a lovely, refreshing read for me, and I’m so glad there are authors like Robin Talley out there.’ Bookseller

‘One of the most interesting and informative LGBT books I've read recently!’ Reader

‘a must-read for anyone interested in LGBTQ+ history’ NetGalley reviewer

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9780263935745

Robin Talley

Robin Talley is a queer author who grew up in southwest Virginia and now lives in Washington, DC, with her wife and their kids. She is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels for teen readers: Music from Another World, Pulp, Our Own Private Universe, As I Descended, The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, What We Left Behind, and Lies We Tell Ourselves. You can find her on the web at www.robintalley.com.

Reviews for Music From Another World

[edgoldberg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's 1977 and Tammy and Sharon, students from two different Christian schools are assigned as summer pen pals. Tammy lives in Southern California and Sharon lives in San Francisco, the hotbed of gay activism. Tammy is gay but can't come out because her uncle is a pastor and he and his wife are totally anti-gay. Sharon's brother is gay but he can't come out because his mother wouldn't understand.Told in their pen pal letters to each other and their diary entries (Sharon) and never mailed letters to Harvey Milk (Tammy) these two girls who thought the other was totally different from themselves reveal how much they have in common. Tally, author of Pulp, recounts the atmosphere of the time bringing in gay rights activist Harvey Milk,anti-gay activist Anita Bryant and others to make her point. Readers will love both Tammy and Sharon and understand the emotions they each have. I'll admit that the ending was a little too pat, but I didn't really mind because it was the ending I wanted. Talley is a top tier author and her books bring recent periods in our history to life (Pulp jumps between current day and the 1950s). Highly recommended.