Bibliography: O’Doherty,J. (Creator); O’Doherty, J., Israel, D.M., Girolamo, G., and Morgenstein, L. (Producers); Israel, D.M. (Developer); How To Rock; Nickelodeon; Original Run Date Feb 4, 2012.
Plot: Kacey Simon is the leader of the clique “The Perfs” (short for perfect). Her life is turned on its head when she is given braces and glasses in the same day. Her best friends turn on her and let her know that since she is no longer perfect, she can no longer be a member of “The Perfs.” Being in exile, Kacey finds new friends in the members of the band Gravity 4. It doesn’t take long for her to become the lead singer and they change the name to Gravity 5. The show is the story of how Kacey finds her place outside of the popular crowd. Episode one deals with Kacey choosing her want to be popular or her new friends in Gravity 5. Episode two shows the band members giving up their favorite things to win a bet. Episode three deals with Kacey introducing her new friends to her old popular friends; she frets that her new friends will be accepted.
Review: This show is very funny and shows a great image for tween girls. Kacey shows tweens that no matter what you look like you need to “rock” what you have. She has a positive image of who she is and what she is dealt. I watched this show with my nine year old daughter and we both loved the show. It is a great show for all ages and a great opportunity to find something on television that doesn’t change a tweens attitude or outlook on life. Another great aspect of the show is the music. Many of the songs highlighted on the show are written by the main character, Cymphonique Miller.
Genre: Humor/Coming of Age/Contemporary Fiction
Interest Level: age 10 and up
Related Shows: iCarly; Victorious; Shake it Up; A.N.T Farm
Characters: (list pulled from Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Rock)
Kacey Simon is former queen of The Perfs, now lead singer of Gravity 5. Kacey is confident, bold, beautiful and now on a constant campaign to take her new friends and band mates to the top of the school social ladder. She can sing, dance, write incredible songs, and she's proving to Gravity 5 that she also knows how to be a true friend. In the pilot, Molly and Grace refer to her as "The Queen of Braces and Glasses." Although she pretty much insults the Gravity 5 band members at first, she soon joins them due to Zander's influence, has a much clearer view of the world, and learns that she should just be herself and make friends that love her for who she is, not because of her popularity. Molly Garfunkel is the new Queen of the Perfs and the antagonist of the show. Molly is every bit as confident, strong, popular, and radiant as Kacey, but she's also an evil mastermind plotting to bury Kacey once and for all, as demonstrated in the pilot episode when she humiliated Kacey in front of a particularly large crowd, only to be stopped by Zander, or when she texts Kacey's crush in front of Kacey, and unfortunately, Stevie, who shoots Molly down for harassing Kacey. Molly used to be Kacey's best friend, but after Kacey realizes she only liked Kacey because she was perfect, Kacey quits the Perfs for good, in results of Molly hating her so much. Molly is an angel to her friends, but extremely critical to the Gravity 5 band members. She will do anything to ruin Gravity 5. Zander Robbins is the new kid in school and guitarist for Gravity 5. Zander is cool, handsome and perhaps sometimes a little vain, but he is also confident, optimistic, loyal and is the one that holds the band together. A running gig in the show is that he can't stop staring at himself in the mirror, however, he mostly puts his friends first before anything. It is hinted that he and Kacey share one of the closest friendships in the group, as demonstrated when he sees Kacey being humiliated by Molly and Grace, and despite being one of the victims of Kacey being mean and nasty to, Zander comes to her rescue and offers her a place in his band. Although he cares about Kacey and intends to help her with her problems, Zander is not afraid to refuse, as demonstrated in "How to Rock a Messy Bet." Zander is the leader of the group and, on all occasions, he sticks up for his friends even though he could be easily distracted at times. Stevie Baskara is Gravity 5's smart, beautiful, strong-headed, tough, no-nonsense bass player. The guys love her because she is cool, but fear her because she can and will crush them, so no matter what, you have to respect her. She's not afraid to be herself, even if it means being a total tomboy. In "How to Rock a Messy Bet" it is revealed that she has four brothers. A running gag in the show is that The Perfs refer to her as "Loserberry," much to her discomfort. Stevie is always more than willing to stick up for her friends even if it does mean being a little aggressive in behavior. She is said to have problems with "slamming" people, meaning that if you say something that will offend her, she will make one nasty come-back. Although usually brave and fearless, Stevie could also be afraid of things as well, as demonstrated in "How to Rock a Messy Bet" when she practically jumped into Zander's arms after hearing something growl in the bands' practice room.
Grace King is queen bee Molly's gorgeous but naive sidekick, in the mean girl group The Perfs. Although she tries to follow Molly's evil lead, Grace just doesn't have it in her to be mean. She is very quirky in her personality. Whenever excited, Grace claps her hands together and squeals "Yeah!" which is possibly a catchphrase of hers. She might slightly/loosely be portrayed as a stereotype blonde as her personality sometimes shows it.
Nelson Baxter is the tech-savvy, sci-fi loving keyboard player and DJ for Gravity 5. Nelson is confident when talking about the ladies, but completely tongue-tied when he is face to face with them, which makes him extremely socially awkward. It is revealed in "How to Rock a Messy Bet," that he and Kevin are addicted to the game "Furious Pigeons," which is a parody of the game Angry Birds, so addicted that they catapulted classmate Andy Bartlet half-way across the school. Kevin Reed is the drummer for Gravity 5 and Nelson's best friend. Besides being constantly hungry and constantly sweating, he is awkward with the ladies but athletic enough to make every sports team, just not good enough to actually play. When trying to talk to girls, he always passes out. He is demonstrated as a terrible liar and a bit of a nervous wreck.
