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We have all attended concerts where a performer dazzled us with technique that seemed hardly humanly possible – a phenomenon that has been a part of musical performances throughout history. In a 1783 anecdotal memory by Johann Matthias Gesner, the ability of J. S. Bach’s playing was described to “effect what not many Orpheuses, nor […]
I recently reviewed two audiobooks with a peculiar connection. Masterminds is a thriller set in the seemingly perfect town of Serenity, New Mexico. The Way to Stay in Destiny is a character-driven novel set in the woefully imperfect town of Destiny, Florida. Neither town is quite what it seems. Click the links to read the complete reviews. Masterminds by Gordon Korman. Read by a cast of five. (2015)
If this is how the year is starting out, it's going to be a banner year for middle-grade books. First, Gordon Korman's Masterminds (more on that fantastic new thriller another day) and now Echo: A Novel.
Ryan, Pam Muñoz. 2015. Echo: A Novel. New York: Scholastic.
I received an Advance Reader Copy of Echo from Scholastic and was intrigued that it was wrapped in musical notation paper and had a smartly-boxed Hohner Blues Band harmonica tied to it.
I was happy to see an apparently music-related book, and what somewhat surprised to find that Echo begins with a fairytale, "The Thirteenth Harmonica of Otto Messenger," a fairytale replete with abandoned princesses, a magical forest, a mean-spirited witch, and a prophecy,
"Your fate is not yet sealed. Even in the darkest night, a star will shine, a bell will chime, a path will be revealed."
Though brief, I became enthralled with the tale and was surprised and taken aback when I reached Part One and found myself not in the fairytale forest, but in
Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 1933, home to the world's oldest harmonica manufacturer. I couldn't wait to find out what became of the abandoned princesses, but soon found myself wrapped up in the story of young Friedrich Schmidt, a German Jew during Hitler's ascendance to power. This kind-hearted, young boy of a musical family was surely destined to be gathered up in the anti-Semitic wave sweeping through Germany. I became engrossed in Friedrich's story, anxiously hoping that things would work out for him and his family, and was again surprised when I reached Part Two and found myself in
Philadelphia, 1935, home of the then-famous Albert Hoxie and the Philadelphia Harmonica Band, and of the Bishop's Home for Friendless and Destitute Children, where I found myself in the company of piano-playing orphans, Mike and Frankie Flannery. Their story was no less heart-wrenching than Friedrich's, and I found myself desperately rooting for the young boys when I suddenly arrived
in a migrant worker's community in Southern California, 1942, where young Ivy Maria Lopez was about to play her harmonica on the Colgate Family Hour radio show, but her excitement was short-lived. I fell in with this hard-working, American family and hoped, along with Ivy, for her brother's safe return from the war.
Of course, there's more, but this is where I will leave off.
Pam Muñoz Ryan has written a positively masterful story that will take the reader from the realm of magic through the historical travails of the infirm, the oppressed, and the poor in the midst of the 20th century. Through it all, music gathers the stories together in a symphony of hope and possibility. In music, and in Echo, there is a magic that will fill your soul.
It may only be February, but I predict that praise for Echo will continue throughout the year.
On a library shelf near you - February 24, 2015.
0 Comments on Echo: A Novel - a review as of 2/20/2015 6:35:00 AM
I spent my first seven years living in Amen Court in the City of London, 100 metres from the northwest corner of St Paul’s Cathedral. I still have vivid memories of this time including recollections of lavish children’s parties given by Dean Inge (the so-called Gloomy Dean) for the cathedral choristers, hearing the call of the cats’ meat man who fed the rat-catching office cats, and the daily round of the lamplighter who tolerated the ‘help’ of a seven year-old assistant.
Then my family moved to Yorkshire where I had my first piano lessons. My teacher was Isobel Purdon who I now realize was a first-rate (if eccentric) musician. She knitted throughout lessons but still managed to hear all my mistakes, and I remember seeing her on her way to the Stranraer ferry (probably 200 miles away) with the neck of her double bass sticking out of the roof of her Austin 7. At music festivals she would conduct the school orchestra with a knitting needle; very embarrassing for the young orchestra members but it didn’t stop us winning more often than not.
On leaving school I studied piano and violin at The Royal Academy of Music. It was war time and buzz bombs were falling regularly over central London. We often had to dive under tables as the air raid warnings sounded–one notable occasion was right in the middle of my first violin exam.
After graduating, I embarked on my teaching career. After a year teaching very young children I felt the lack of inspirational music for this age group and so began to write a piano method which was logical, well-paced, and at the same time attractive and enjoyable. Producing a simple tutor for young children that addresses all these needs is a challenge, but as I was already a teacher I had the opportunity to learn on the job, so to speak, and all the pieces were tried and tested. As a piano teacher, a mother of three, and the wife of a busy doctor, time was scarce and my first drafts were written sitting at the ironing-board. Those initial sketches grew into the Piano Time series, a method used by many thousands of teachers and pupils across the globe today.
At this point I would like to mention that however dedicated the piano teacher is, and however rewarding their teaching career, there will be times when it can seem like drudgery. The late Philip Cranmer, who had a long and distinguished career as a teacher, once put an interesting proposition. Are you a piano teacher and have you ever taught Für Elise? Here is Philip Cranmer’s proposition:
“Let there be a teacher who has taught the piano for 40 years on an average for 44 weeks in each year. And at any time during that period let there be one of that teacher’s pupils learning Für Elise, playing it through twice at each lesson. Then the teacher will have heard the E/Sharp seesaw 180,000 times. The actual figure arrived at by multiplying out is 179,520, but the extra 480 takes account of all the times the pupil has played one too many because he has miscounted the beat.”
Although there are moments of drudgery, the rewards of introducing young pupils to the infinite joy of music making must make this one of the most satisfying and fulfilling of all careers.
Pauline Hall is the author of Piano Time, Oxford University Press’s award-winning series for young pianists. Oxford Sheet Music is distributed in the United States by Peters Edition.
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I grew up watching Marx Brothers films that my mom would get from the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury, Vermont. Aside from the some of the greatest humor ever caught on film, I was always drawn in by Chico Marx on the piano. Here's one of his best performances from The Marx Brothers Go West. All Chico. No camera tricks. Pretty amazing.
0 Comments on Chico Marx as of 7/11/2009 9:03:00 PM
If you’re curious about the new Anne of Green Gables book–Before Green Gables–then check out on this! The podcast includes interviews with author Budge Wilson (ohh! I wish I could have been there. But listening to the podcast is a close second), editor Helen Reeves from Penguin Books, who edited Before Green Gables , LM Montgomery’s granddaughter Kate Macdonald Butler, LM Montgomery expert Betsy Epperly, Adrienne Clarkson (the Governor-General of Canada, and a literacy advocate) and more.
The podcast is a wonderful celebration of Anne books; it’s such fun to listen to! It’s so well put together, like woven bits of each person’s story that makes a whole–from the editor who wanted the book written, to the granddaughter, to Budge Wilson, to Anne enthusiasts. I love how honest and forthright Budge Wilson is. The podcast flows beautifully, and has such interesting tidbits. I loved listening to it. If you like Anne, you’ll want to listen.
0 Comments on fantastic podcast on Before Green Gables as of 1/1/1900
For those of you who love kidlit podcasts–and good ones–Swimming In Literary Soup has a new podcast out! Yay! This one addresses social anxiety, a topic near to my heart, since I’m shy, an introvert, and yes, I experience social anxiety. The books Andrea discusses related to social anxiety are Albert by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Jim LaMarche; Camilla’s New Hairdo by Tricia Tusa; and Emily by Michael Bedard. Know someone shy or afraid to relate to others? Know someone who would rather watch from the sidelines than interact? These books might help.
So hop on over to Swimming In Literary Soup and check out her podcast! Crisp, clear sound; a pleasing voice; fun sound effects in the intro; and great info, it’s worth the listen. Andrea also provides a transcript of the podcast, which I think is a nice bonus.
0 Comments on Swimming In Literary Soup has a new podcast out as of 10/8/2007 7:29:00 AM
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If you’re curious about the new Anne of Green Gables book–
–then check out 
The podcast is a wonderful celebration of Anne books; it’s such fun to listen to! It’s so well put together, like woven bits of each person’s story that makes a whole–from the editor who wanted the book written, to the granddaughter, to Budge Wilson, to Anne enthusiasts. I love how honest and forthright Budge Wilson is. The podcast flows beautifully, and has such interesting tidbits. I loved listening to it. If you like Anne, you’ll want to listen.
For those of you who love kidlit podcasts–and good ones–
by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Jim LaMarche; 
by Tricia Tusa; and 
by Michael Bedard. Know someone shy or afraid to relate to others? Know someone who would rather watch from the sidelines than interact? These books might help.
Nice intimate feeling to this. I love his hands coming forward and the interior feeling that the wallpaper gives. Love the loose quality.