STIFLED

A talented 11-year-old trombonist is caught between music and her best friend in this companion to Muffled (2021).

Margaret “Madge” Hesse is thrilled to be one of just four sixth graders accepted into Jazz Notes at Fyfe Middle School. Her mom, Klara, a professional French horn player, died when Madge was a baby. She doesn’t know her father’s identity—it’s just Madge and her German American grandmother, Oma. Madge is determined to follow in her mom’s musical footsteps—“It’s the only way to stop Oma from crying.” Unfortunately, being in Jazz Notes means being separated from her best friend, Amelia, who doesn’t make the cut. Befriending her new bandmates is tough, especially when she’s suddenly hitting so many wrong notes. When Amelia joins the Free Readers, students who are working to stop the Liberty Guardians, a group trying to ban books from their school library, Madge’s support is halfhearted. How can she concentrate on books when succeeding in Jazz Notes is so important? But if she doesn’t support Amelia, she might lose her as a friend. Gennari realistically and sensitively explores tough topics including censorship and grief, and many readers will empathize with Madge’s feeling like a goldfish in a tank: “swimming in circles and very, very small.” Madge is occasionally overprotective toward Amelia in a way that’s well-intentioned but stifling, and readers will appreciate both Amelia’s growth and Madge’s gradual awareness of her own behavior.

Poignant and insightful.