Told through two intersecting yet different timelines, Jazz tells the story of teenager Mitchell Williams as a middle schooler, as he deals with getting jumped in the locker room, preparing for a band competition, and meeting a girl with a possessive ex-boyfriend, and then as a high schooler, where Mitchell is faced with bickering bandmates, a school trip to New York City, and learning how to deal with a relationship gone wrong.
Jazz is a coming-of-age novel about a school jazz band, but it's also a novel about getting your heart broken, trying to fit in, teachers that don't understand teenagers, bullies, music, love, rejection, movies, and the wonder and awe of friendship, even when you're a band geek.