Author: Elise Broach
Genre: realistic fiction/magical realism
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Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): Welcome to the world of Mirabelle, a young goldfinch who loves to sing and dreams of becoming a musical star. She lives with her family in the backyard of a piano teacher, and she is quickly intrigued by Mr. Starek's newest pupil. Michael Jin is an eleven-year-old keyboard sensation, but lesson after lesson, he refuses to play. With the prestigious Chopin Festival looming at summer’s end, how will he be ready in time? Mirabelle is responsible for Michael’s breakthrough—to her own astonishment, she sings the Chopin piece he is beginning to play at the piano. It is their first duet.
Thus begins a secret adventure that will take Mirabelle and Michael further than they ever imagined—in music, in friendship, and in solving the mystery of a lost piano that could be worth millions. A house full of treasures holds the clues. There, Mirabelle, Michael, and their friend Emily will make an important discovery that links the great composer Frederic Chopin, the trailblazing author George Sand, and the French Romantic painter Eugene Delacroix.
A fast-paced, history-rich mystery will have young readers hooked as they root for boy and bird in this beautifully told novel, full of emotion and suspense.
My opinion: At face value, this is a story about a boy and a bird that learn to recognize their own abilities and rely on their shared strength to accomplish things. Even more than that, though, there is a celebration of the beauty, artistry, and near magic of music and musicians. Of their instruments. Broach addresses the way that the same song played by the same artist may sound different with different instruments. Composition affects resonance which can become important with instrumental music. It was cool to see that explored in any book, much less one for children. And that exploration as well as the historical mystery involving Chopin is explained with enough detail to be interesting without ever becoming overwhelming. There's enough tension and mystery to keep the reader engaged but nothing that will become too much for sensitive kids.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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