The Sandy Bottom Orchestra - Hardcover

Keillor, Garrison; Nilsson, Jenny Lind

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786801735 ISBN 13: 9780786801732

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 1996

Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old Rachel comes to terms with her eccentric family while taking refuge in her violin playing.

About this title

About the Author:

Garrison Keillor lives in St Paul, Minnesota, home of A Prairie Home Companion, his radio show that has been on the air since 1974. He wrote and appeared in Robert Altman's final film, A Prairie Home Companion and is the author of many books including the Lake Wobegon novels, which include Lake Wobegon Days, Pontoon and Pilgrims.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8. Rachel Green is an only child in a small town in Wisconsin. She loves playing the violin and does it well. Other than that, she spends her time being embarrassed by her slightly eccentric parents, who are too culturally advanced for their community, and worrying about what everyone else thinks about her. Young readers who adore music and who feel out of place in their communities will desire far more fleshing out and depth of musical knowledge. The story reads somewhat like a sports novel without any play-by-play action. Readers who are unsophisticated about music and accept the simple references to a Mozart Concerto as though there were only one will have a hard time finding a reality that convinces. A violin teacher and Rachel's mother's friend who lives in Italy appear with promise, but then fizzle and fade. Rachel's own inconsistencies?one minute complaining about her family not going anywhere and the next rhapsodizing about last year's trip to Italy?could leave readers wondering if she is unaware of her ups and downs or if the authors forgot who wrote what. The girl's feelings of ostracism could provide a connection but her own elitist attitude is off-putting. Rachel speaks sometimes like a Keillor radio monologue and sometimes not. A far better novel about a talented musical teen is Virginia Wolff's The Mozart Season (Holt, 1991). Suffering from an inconsistent voice and parents who are far more interesting than the central character, this is light entertainment, acceptable as fluff summer reading and proof, once again, that a famous name on the title page is no guarantee of quality in children's books.?Carol A. Edwards, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0786801735
• ISBN 13: 9780786801732
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160