Book Review: Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson

Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson tells the story of Callie Smith, a teen girl who’s been moving from town to town with her mother for as long as she can remember. As far as Callie is concerned, the story seldom changes – her mom meets someone new, falls in love, they move in together, life is normal for a while, and all too quickly normal ends and they are packed up and on their way again. As she starts high school in a new town, Callie dares to make friends and has hope that this time things will be different.

As the story unfolds, Callie realizes her mom is keeping a secret about their past and Callie’s father, and the mystery becomes a great part of the story. A thread running throughout the narrative is the song journal that Callie keeps. It’s like having a soundtrack of her life, and I found myself thinking about the songs that would go in my own song journal, and what the soundtrack of my life would be.

Songs for a Teenage Nomad explores many issues that are of interest to teenage girls and their moms – when is it okay for parents to withhold information they think is harmful to their children? What obligations does a child have to a potentially abusive parent? There’s a lot to discuss in this well written book. To read reviews by other readers, click here.