A quick and interesting musical read, full of history and mystery.
A singing goldfinch becomes a musical muse for a young piano prodigy.
Mirabelle, a young female goldfinch who loves music, closely watches the home of Mr. Starek, a gifted piano teacher. One day, a tween boy named Michael Jin arrives, clearly against his wishes. The boy refuses to play for the esteemed teacher, who is supposed to help Michael prepare for the prestigious Chopin Festival in Hartford. Broach unfurls a shy dance between boy and bird, as Mirabelle’s curiosity helps Michael, who presents as East Asian American, reveal his precocious talent. When Michael plays Chopin’s Minute Waltz, Mirabelle, perched in a tree outside the window, begins to sing along, inspiring both to perform beyond their expectations. This creates a musical friendship that leads them to the mystery of Chopin’s lost piano. Readers learn about the historical friendship among three geniuses: Frédéric Chopin; his muse, the writer George Sand; and painter Eugene Delacroix. A dilapidated house stuffed with treasures holds a rare piano that brings forth the duo’s best performances, but will the bank take the house and all its contents away? Glimpses of bird life provide a lighthearted balance to the fine details of musicality and piano virtuosity. This story illustrates an appreciation for excellence and the passion to create music just for the joy of it. Final art not seen.
A quick and interesting musical read, full of history and mystery. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31135-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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