In 2000, former high school classmates Pete and Carla were working dead-end jobs and still living at home with their parents. Pete's house is full of love and support from his flight attendant mother and his French-born father. Carla is the youngest and only daughter of a hard-working Italian family. She's often overlooked or the receptacle of her mother's ire.

Both are lovers of music, both listening and playing. While Pete tends towards jam bands and jazz, Carla enjoys indie rock, often fronted by women. After a chance reunion and a few months, the two connect and start playing together.

After a few local gigs, the two embark on a cross-country tour, during which they will learn more about each other, the country in a post-9-111 world, and themselves.
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Lisa Czarina Michaud was able to capture the pre- and immediate post-9/11 feeling in New York and the rest of the country. Carla and Pete are full of angst in their early 20s and have plenty of room to grow up. They both are stuck, living between high school and actual adulthood. The cross-country tour forces them both to confront their issues and discover who they are.

The alternating POVs added a nice element to the story, adding the alternating views of the same incidents and interactions. I am eager to read the second/follow up as I want to know what happens post-Hollywood, so I'll be picking that up immediately.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.