Making Music - Hardcover

Bonners, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374347328 ISBN 13: 9780374347321

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2002

Adjusting to the new neighborhood thanks to the sound of music

It's hard enough moving to a new place, and for Annie there are plenty of extra burdens. Her mother seems sad and worried all the time, having a baby brother makes getting settled in even harder, a box of her prized horse figurines has been lost, and to top it all off, the new house is far away from Annie's favorite uncle, who shared with her what she loves best of all: piano music. But it turns out that piano music can also be found in her new neighborhood. Each evening when Annie roller-skates, she hears beautiful melodies coming from a house down the street. It is the source of the music, the elderly Mrs. Bergstrom, that eventually provides Annie with hope that the new place may someday feel like home.

Young readers will easily identify with Annie in this charming early chapter book from the Christopher Award-winning author of The Silver Balloon.

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About the Author:

Susan Bonners is the author and illustrator of many books for children, including Edwina Victorious and Above and Beyond. She lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts.

From Publishers Weekly:

With a pleasant cadence and the steady pace of a metronome, Bonners's brief novel about the difficult adjustments families must sometimes make may strike a chord with young readers-especially music lovers. Yet the story's development seems less polished than in her previous novels (Edwina Victorious; The Silver Balloon). When their mother moves them to a new house three hours away, young Annie and her baby brother try to make the most of their new environment and Annie tries not to miss her favorite uncle too much. She willingly helps out as much as she can (and is actually saddled with much responsibility), hoping to relieve some of the sadness and stress that seem to be weighing on her mother as she frets over finances and the start of a new job. Before long, Annie discovers that the best thing by far about her new neighborhood is the piano music that wafts from the home of an older neighbor named Mrs. Bergstrom each evening. The girl and the pianist strike up an unlikely friendship that eventually leads to Annie fulfilling a musical dream. Throughout, Bonners introduces some common family concerns. However, readers may wish for more detail about the absence of Annie's father (explained in a vague paragraph early on) and how she is coping without him, as well as more satisfying, fleshed-out relationships among the characters here. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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