DJ Rising

starred review Booklist

* "This gritty, pulsating peek into a lesser-known world reverberates with the energy of a thumping dance club."

VOYA - Emily Petit

Dj Rising is about love: love of family, love of passions, love of friends, and love of oneself. Marley (otherwise known as DJ Ice) has a strong and compelling voice, as well as unshakable integrity that will appeal to readers of all backgrounds. The story is sometimes a little cheesy and occasionally difficult to believe — Marley's unwavering stance on drugs and alcohol is not a position so easily maintained for most adolescents, but especially for a teen in Marley's painful inner city location; however, his refusal to shed his own core beliefs and his potent determination to succeed in all he does will leave a lasting impression in the minds of teen and adult readers alike. 4Q, 3P. Reviewer: Emily Petit

VOYA - Christina Fairman

Names can reveal a lot about a person. In the case of Marley Johnnywas Diego-Dylan, his name may reveal his destiny. Born in a first-aid tent at a Bob Marley day festival to unprepared parents, Marley was, in his words, a "baby boy born amid thousands of Bob Marley fans, my ears filling with music as I took my first breaths of weed-laced air." Now, sixteen years later, Marley is living in a chaotic world in which his father is dead and his mother is hooked on heroin. The only bright spot is his dream of becoming a successful club DJ who creates intoxicating music using turntables and an iPod. For Marley, music "bleeds together like colors of a rainbow, radiating through a dream that leads into a dream that feeds off a dream and drifts amid a dream." This intelligent, sensitive book will appeal to fans of urban fiction. Teens familiar with the techniques of spinning will appreciate the careful attention paid to Marley's creative process. The story does contain numerous references to drug use, but they are never glamorized. The tragic role of drugs in the life of Marley's mother underscores the very real consequences of drug dependency. Language is typical for teen audiences, who will recognize the standard expletives as realistic without being gratuitous. The essential message of the story is one of resilience in the face of adversity, a lesson that will resonate with many teen readers. Reviewer: Christina Fairman

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Sixteen-year-old Marley Johnnywas Diego-Dylan dreams of escaping the small apartment he shares with his heroin-addicted mother and her stream of short-term boyfriends. His life is divided between his job at a high-end restaurant; at Ellington Prep, where he's a scholarship student; and the time he spends building his skills and reputation as a DJ. At school, he's shy and longs for rich, beautiful Lea Hall, but behind his turntables he's in his element. As music consumes more and more of his time, he struggles to balance education, romance, and caring for his mother, until he's forced to make some difficult choices. Maia's debut novel recalls Coe Booth's Tyrell (Scholastic, 2007) and Simone Elkeles's Perfect Chemistry (Walker, 2008), but it lacks the drama and romance of those novels. For all the difficulty in his life, Marley's struggles are resolved far too easily to create narrative tension. His relationship with his mother feels forced; the conflict between them is resolved too neatly, and his mother's ultimate overdose is expected. There's no suspense in the DJ contest he enters, and his stern musical mentor comes across as bland. For readers interested in being DJs, there may be some rewarding passages. Otherwise, spend time spinning with Tyrell.—Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

From Coltrane to disco to old-school hip-hop, an energetic tale of a teen disc jockey's struggle to reach the top. Sixteen-year-old Marley Diego-Dylan is one of the only kids in his elite high school on financial aid. His father died a few years back, and his mom spends her days strung out on heroin in front of the television. Marley fights to keep everything together, but he dreams of becoming a star DJ. His career surges when he lands a substitute gig at a local club. Soon he's spinning vinyl at the hottest clubs. When his mother's situation take a turn for the worst, however, he's reality-checked back into his old life and must choose between his dreams and his old responsibilities. Maia's first teen novel balances true-to-life urban teenspeak, well-drawn characters and a plot that often seems too good to be true. The descriptions of Marley's--aka DJ Ice--DJ sessions are near euphoric, and music fans will love learning about the artists he blends for the dance floor. The novel itself feels just as glossy as the DJ sequences and lacks much of the realistic grit that other works embrace, such as Coe Booth's Tyrell (2006). Still, readers will relish reading about Marley's rise to fame despite his harrowing situation. A new voice worth watching. (Fiction. 14 & up)