Fiddle Fever - Hardcover

Doucet, Sharon Arms

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618043241 ISBN 13: 9780618043248

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2000

Synopsis

Realizing that he was born to be a musician, and despite his mother's forbidding him to play, Felix LeBlanc is forced to test his relationships with those closest to him when he secretly practices on a homemade instrument.

About this title

About the Author:

Sharon Arms Doucet is the author OF WHY LAPIN'S EARS ARE LONG and LE HOOGIE BOOGIE SONGBOOK: LOUISIANA FRENCH MUSIC FOR CHILDREN. When she is not writing, Ms. Doucet sings and performs in the Doucet Family Band, along with her fiddler husband, Michael, and their three children. She lives in Lafayette, Louisiana.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-8-A superb story of a boy's coming-of-age in the bayous of South Louisiana in the early days of World War I. In a first-person narrative, F lix Octave LeBlanc tells about the first time he heard his long-absent uncle, 'Nonc Adolphe, play the fiddle at a get-together. "The music latched onto something inside of me, as if each note was plucking a string that I hadn't even known was there." From that moment on, all F lix wants to do is play the fiddle, against his parents' wishes. He fashions a violin from an old cigar box, wood, and wire, and secretly teaches himself to play. During the Mardi Gras festivities, he hides behind a costume and mask and joins the Cajun band circling his neighborhood. Unfortunately, made bold by whiskey and pride in his accomplishments, he is unmasked and faces the unpleasant consequences of his actions when he falls from the wagon. Questions of responsibility, obedience, loyalty, self-discovery, friendship, and maturity are all seamlessly woven into the story, underpinned by a sense of the Cajuns' steadfast reverence for church and family. The whole becomes an excellent novel of a boy's growing up, offering a comprehensive historical picture of Cajun life and values, and, most of all, a compelling depiction of the power of music in people's lives. A book not to be missed.
Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0618043241
• ISBN 13: 9780618043248
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176