The Leader of the Band: When We Lived in Richwood

Bullying has disastrous effects on the victim as well as the bully herself. The Leader of the Band is a coming of age story set in a charmingly boring small Ohio town told by a 17-year-old narrator who is forced to move there after her parents’ divorce. Jenna misses her father and dislikes her mother, who is the new English teacher at the high school. In an effort to make friends with the “good kids,” Jenna joins the marching band and tries hard to keep it secret that the unpopular drum major is her cousin and his girlfriend, the talented trombone player Julia Camp, is her friend. Under the tyrannical leadership of band director Mel Tigenhoff, the band marches on from summer practice to Labor Day to Homecoming to the last football game in November, and Jenna learns that careless bullying can destroy not only its target but also the bully. Even though she finally stands up for what is right, she cannot forgive herself for what happens. This novel for older young adults is set in 1963 when telephones had rotary dials, there were no MMR vaccines, and classic cars were Model T’s, not muscle cars. It is pleasantly reminiscent of simpler times yet also starkly realistic in its portrayal of timeless themes of family and women’s roles, mental illness, and mistreatment of the weak and unpopular.