Don't let it get to you! Volume 1. You are not alone.

Cover

The cover was created by the illustrator Marie Sann and shows the most important people in the book. The protagonist Ben is shown in the foreground with a guitar. He is a musician, and the words “Rock” on his T-shirt also suggest that he plays rock music. His mother Julia and his older brother Charly can be seen at the bottom right. Ben's family is completed by his younger sister Sam, shown below on the left. Charly puts his hand on his mother's shoulder - he feels responsible for the family. Ben is secretly in love with Susi (on his left), his neighbor and school friend, who always reminds him of Pocahontas. During a casting for the music show "Entertain Us", Ben meets Charly (top right corner), who not only accompanies him during the show, but also becomes his best friend. The somewhat dark-looking figure between the two Charlys is Troy, owner of the brilliant music store “Troys Kleiner Musikladen”.

introduction

In »Don't let it get to you, Ben! You are not alone.« it is a youth book/book for young adults. It is the first volume of the six-volume Don't let it get to you! series, which tells the stories of three teenagers. The past childhood and current experiences of the three protagonists are described in two volumes each.

Stefanie Lemke did the editing and the cover was illustrated by Marie Sann.

Ben is a musician. If he didn't have to eat, drink or sleep, Ben would go without as long as he could just make music. But as a teenager, priorities sometimes change quite quickly. His bandmates begin to orient themselves differently and are no longer interested in the band.
Ben, who is more of a sensitive type, lets himself go because of this and is far from Don't let it get to you! Or as the blurb says: You are responsible for your own life, and you should take it into your own hands and not wait for someone to come, take you by the hand and show you how to live your life. Because it is not for nothing that it is said that “the ability lies in the will.” But it's usually not as easy as it sounds. External influences such as work, family and friends can hinder you from going your own way. But nothing is more serious than getting in your own way.
There won't be a new band that wants to make music with Ben. He has to take it into his own hands. Against his dislike for music shows that are constantly and everywhere, Ben takes part in one. There he tries to make his way through. This is anything but easy for him. Because Ben hasn't yet understood that in life he will always have to deal with people he doesn't think much of. In addition, Ben will always find himself in situations that make it difficult to cope with them.
In addition, Ben's environment is anything but perfect. There are always financial problems at home. There are criminal friends. A single mother who has worked herself to death for her children and suffers from depression and anxiety. So a lot of things come together that Ben can hardly cope with.

This book is not just about the “music show” adventure, but rather about family and friendship.

Reading sample

Reading sample from Chapter 10 - The Russians don't even go to the toilet without a plan!

….
We parked on the boulevard. The sun was already high in the sky and the shops were open. Sleepy Water only had one music store, but it had it all. You would think that in a small town like this town you would have to order everything, but you would be far from it. Troy Jackson lost his mother early but inherited a lot. He owned a rental house in the city center, a house just outside Sleepy Water that he lived in himself, and then two commercial buildings in a prime location on the boulevard. One of the commercial buildings housed the Internet café and a nail salon. But he had expanded the second house, where his mom had run a handicraft shop, and had been running a music shop ever since.
The shop took up three floors. CDs, vinyl records, DVDs and magazines could be found on the lowest floor. People stood in front of CD players with headphones and moved to the beat. Screens on the walls flickered and music videos and concert recordings could be admired. A staircase led upstairs. The second floor offered a selection of musical instruments. There was a drum set set up in the middle. Next to it is a bass, an electric guitar, three microphones. When I looked there, I couldn't help but think of my old band. You could have gotten on the devices straight away and started playing. A feeling of sadness spread through me. But I didn't want to show anything and quickly found my way to the stairs. When I reached the top, I sat down in an armchair in the lounge and stared through the large picture window.
Charly was enthusiastic about the shop and complained that I hadn't told him before about this 'musical meeting place', as he called the shop. He sat down opposite me. Looked left and right and couldn't help but be amazed.
»I can't believe what I'm seeing here. This city couldn't even be found on my navigation system. But you have such a crazy shop here. Unbelievable. Do you know the owner?”
I was still looking out the window and thinking about my mom. Only when Charly waved and asked me if everything was okay did I say: “Does this dirty sun actually have to shine every day? She acts as if nothing had happened at all. Charly first looked completely puzzled, then pressed his lips together and nodded.
“I’m going to try out those fancy machines over there and get us some breakfast.”
He pointed to the supply machines of this “musical meeting place” and hopped out of his chair. There was a machine with sandwiches, then one with sweet pasta and a coffee machine. Charly brought everything he thought we needed to eat and drink.
I grabbed a blueberry muffin and started talking.
“Troy Jackson is about a year or two older than my brother. He was an outsider at school and always traveled alone. He almost never spoke and actually no one knew him. And because he was so secretive, people gossiped and spread rumors about him. Sometimes there were really bad things. The fact that he was gay was the most harmless thing. After school he left. Only when his mother died did he come back. Renovated the houses he inherited and opened this music store.”
….
But Troy turned out to be a businessman.
»After school I wanted to get out of this town as quickly as possible and thought New York would be just right for me. As a country bumpkin, everything was pretty impressive at first. I quickly found a band where I could play guitar. Because so many drugs were consumed, we rarely rehearsed and never got to perform properly, and there was always trouble within the band itself. I then got a job in a music store. After all, I had to get my rent together somehow. And I did well there. It didn't take long for the owner to trust me with his shop. The idea of ​​opening my own music store was quickly born and I started to make a plan and even looked for suitable premises. But then my mom got sick. Yes, and then I ended up here again. But actually I'm quite satisfied. The only thing that still bothers me about Sleepy Water is exactly what I always found so stupid. You have no like-minded people here. There is this one gray, stubborn mass that moves back and forth through the city. Like clockwork! As soon as you are different, you are excluded. And in New York it didn't matter what I was like. You should let people be who they want to be and let them do what they want to do. Even if it’s a kindergarten music show like the one you two are in.”
He laughed.
Charly and I stared at each other.
I said to Troy: "Yeah, what can you do to get out of this town."
Troy shot back.
»Yes, that's right. Feel free to try it out. You'll see what you get out of it."
He laughed again.
Charly and I didn't find it funny anymore.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Troy understood that we were feeling pissed off and explained, "All that glitters is not gold. They want to make money with you. People don't care about you. And I don't know about Charly, but you, Ben, are easy to crack. You're far too sensitive for this business. You’ll see that later.”
I looked at Charly, he was looking at the remains of his breakfast and not at my face, so he was probably thinking the same thing. But I didn't want to let Troy undermine me so easily, so I asked him: "Why do you think of me like that? You do not even know me."
»Yes, that's right, I don't know you. But at the blind auditions I saw a little baby boy who chirped the Nickelback song 'How You Remind Me' with exaggerated emotion. And that's why I can't imagine that you can bite yourself. How do you actually plan to survive the Dominican Republic? Have you made a plan yet?”
I sat in my chair with my mouth open and was pissed off. I looked at Charly, who was barely able to stop himself from laughing, and shouted: “You and your shitty plans are really annoying me! It's like in 'The Hunt for Red October', where they say: 'The Russians won't even go to the toilet without a plan'. Now come on down!”
Finally Charly joined in and told Troy what we were planning to do in the next few days.
Troy nodded and said if we still needed titles, we could always come into his store and browse his inventory.
…

Not for sale reading sample from Doreen Gehrke Verlag. The use of this reading sample, whether in part or in full, is in breach of copyright without the written consent of Doreen Gehrke Verlag. Translating the reading sample and using it in electronic systems is also punishable.