The Girl Who Became a Beatle by Greg Taylor

Regina Bloomsbury is just your typical Beatles fangirl. Except that she's not a child of the 60's. Regina is a Millenial child who's parents' love of all things Beatles transferred to her at birth. She even named her own band The Caverns after the night club where the Beatles got their start. Unfortunately Regina's fab four isn't so fab. Actually, Julian (guitar) is frustrated with Regina & Lorna (bass) & Danny (drums) just quit because they don't think that Regina can get them the real gigs they've been aching to play. So frustrated, embarrassed & depressed, Regina seeks sanctuary in her Beatles laiden home. She even makes a wish that her band were as famous as the Beatles.

The next morning Regina wakes up to a whole new world. The Beatles has ceased to exist (or rather, never existed at all) & instead The Caverns are playing all their music. More specifically Regina is singing their songs as her band's own music. It turns out that Regina's "fairy godmother" made her wish come true. For one week Regina Bloomsbury gets to be as famous as the Beatles because her band has replaced them in history. At the end of that week, her band is slated to play the Grammys. If she decides she wants to stay in this alternate life forever, she can do just that. Or she can go back to being Regina Bloomsbury, nobody from Twin Oaks.

So here we go on a whirlwind tour in the life of a very famous person. She's meeting new people, being chased by rabid fans, still crushing on Julian & yet dating an actor. Regina is overwhelmed because she is just thrown into all this with no history behind it all. She needs to get her head together, figure out how they shot to stardom, & where she wants to go from here. All is needs is a little help from her friends. Piece of cake right?

This was a mind-boggling, roller-coaster, adventure of a book. I've heard of fairy godmother's granting wishes before, but becoming one of the most influential rock bands in history isn't what I would call an "every day, run of the mill wish." Greg Taylor really dug deep to find a unique rhythm for this book. Not only did he make his lead character an aspiring singer/songwriting young woman, he really made me believe her Beatlemania! There are so many details about the Beatles in this book that I was afraid that there would be a glaring error that would just shoot it out of the sky. To my utmost pleasure, he managed to mix in just enough "generally known" facts as he did "hardcore fanatic knowledge."

I must admit that I found myself very entertained by the central characters. There was real potential for Regina to just be a cardboard Beatles-replacement, but Taylor really wove her story & background into her situation very well. Not only was she having to contend with her instant stardom, but she was fighting her divorced parents, sorting out boy drama & still working on herself as a person. Truly, I admire what she went through & how she came to her final decision.

In the end, this was a fun, feisty, fanatical read. I'm sure I'll end up buying this one for when I need a pick-me-up. Regina Bloomsbury has a fabulous sense of humor that I couldn't resist. And because it was a Beatles fan-book, I'll leave you with my favorite Beatles song in my favorite rendition: