Waiting on Wednesday: Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to showcase upcoming books that you can't wait to read.

My anxiously awaited title this week is:

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Expected Publication: October 18, 2011 by Simon Pulse
Pages: 304
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult

From Goodreads:

Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. Two weeks before the most important violin competition of her career, she has bigger things to worry about—like growing out of that suffocating “child prodigy” label, and not disappointing her mother. But it isn’t just the wrong time. It’s the wrong guy. Jeremy is Carmen’s most talented rival, and according to her mother, he’s only interested in one thing: winning.

He isn’t the only one.

Carmen is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to control performance nerves. But what started a year ago as an easy fix is now a hungry addiction. Her mother insists now is not the time to quit, but Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of doing what she’s told.

When the darker side of the classical music industry and her mother's ambition collide, Carmen must choose between her career and her love for music.

I have a huge affinity for stories about musicians. I played classical piano for 13 years and even planned to go to school for it when I got to college. But the reality set in - college music programs are ridiculously competitive (even at easy-to-get-in schools like the university I went to) with professors so intent on perfection and precision that it sucked the life out of any sort of love or passion I had for music. So I get stories about high-strung, competitive musicians. Even though I wasn't one, I certainly encountered some in my semester and a half as a university music student. 

I definitely have a vested interested in reading this story.