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arsonthewalmartbag's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good book, actually my first music book. I could relate to most of the stuff because I play the piano. Really inspiring
popsicleplease's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism
elliebailey's review against another edition
3.0
This is a heartfelt novel about a preteen girl growing up. I feel like can relate to her. The girl (Allegra) is a young violin prodigy. The book can be a bit slow, but I am glad I read it.
djwfyi's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the_fabric_of_words's review against another edition
5.0
I have two kiddos who've played violin for about a dozen years, so reading this was...interesting.
Mainly, it made me really glad my two were much older when they tackled Mozart and never did a competition like this, just because of some of the unrealistic pressures put on the main character, Allegra. Both her parents are string players. Even her name, allegro, is an Italian music term, meaning fast and lively. Throughout the book she refers to her parents as Mommy and Daddy, and that, more than anything else, really emphasized her young age and was heartbreaking.
Allegra sends in an audition tape for the Bloch Competition, and discovers she's the youngest finalist. She commits to practicing for the competition for an entire summer, and the story is about how she does this, with the help (or hindrance, you'll see -- it's in part how she interprets his instructions) of her teacher.
But complicating things is a singer with bipolar disorder (and who lost a child and her husband as a result) who comes to visit Allegra's parents while performing. The woman has a couple of episodes with Allegra in attendance, and Allegra struggles to process what she's seeing in addition to her music.
As the pressure mounts, Allegra mounts her bike -- going for secret, midnight rides around their neighborhood.
The finalists kinda figure out who each other are by listening / hearing each other play the competition piece in the silent moments between practices with the local youth orchestra. And Allegra fills in for one finalist, when the girl breaks her wrists/ hands in an accident.
They're all thrown together for a radio interview, and get trapped on the elevator on the way down right before the big performance and...
I won't spoil how it ends. The ending was appropriate.
What I did feel was missing were the hours and hours of practice the girl had to have done. They're mentioned, but in passing, and it give the impression, on some pages, of skimming over practice. Practicing is perhaps the hardest part of learning a string instrument, the part that all kids rebel against and resist.
This is an interesting read for any string players in your family, or even if you're just interested in finding out what a life as a musician would be like. Books are windows and mirrors, and this is a wide open window.
Enjoy!
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
Mainly, it made me really glad my two were much older when they tackled Mozart and never did a competition like this, just because of some of the unrealistic pressures put on the main character, Allegra. Both her parents are string players. Even her name, allegro, is an Italian music term, meaning fast and lively. Throughout the book she refers to her parents as Mommy and Daddy, and that, more than anything else, really emphasized her young age and was heartbreaking.
Allegra sends in an audition tape for the Bloch Competition, and discovers she's the youngest finalist. She commits to practicing for the competition for an entire summer, and the story is about how she does this, with the help (or hindrance, you'll see -- it's in part how she interprets his instructions) of her teacher.
But complicating things is a singer with bipolar disorder (and who lost a child and her husband as a result) who comes to visit Allegra's parents while performing. The woman has a couple of episodes with Allegra in attendance, and Allegra struggles to process what she's seeing in addition to her music.
As the pressure mounts, Allegra mounts her bike -- going for secret, midnight rides around their neighborhood.
The finalists kinda figure out who each other are by listening / hearing each other play the competition piece in the silent moments between practices with the local youth orchestra. And Allegra fills in for one finalist, when the girl breaks her wrists/ hands in an accident.
They're all thrown together for a radio interview, and get trapped on the elevator on the way down right before the big performance and...
I won't spoil how it ends. The ending was appropriate.
What I did feel was missing were the hours and hours of practice the girl had to have done. They're mentioned, but in passing, and it give the impression, on some pages, of skimming over practice. Practicing is perhaps the hardest part of learning a string instrument, the part that all kids rebel against and resist.
This is an interesting read for any string players in your family, or even if you're just interested in finding out what a life as a musician would be like. Books are windows and mirrors, and this is a wide open window.
Enjoy!
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
mereduck's review against another edition
5.0
I had a sudden, overwhelming urge to re-read this YA novel from my adolescence the other day, and managed to grab one of only two copies in the entire Toronto Public Library system (with a cover so atrocious its unpopularity is no wonder — the Henry Holt & Company edition).
The last time I read this book, Google barely existed, Youtube certainly didn’t, and a recording of Sophie Mutter’s 7:21 duration rendition of the third movement of Mozart’s Fourth Concerto in D was so laughably inaccessible to me that I just imagined some generic “classical music” in my head based on what I heard in ballet class. Now, I can listen to the music that functions as the backbone of our protagonist Allegra’s life! (I made a playlist on Idagio!) It’s so cool!
Anyway, I think this is a lovely read. I wonder if it’s maybe one of the first in my reading history that cemented a particular love for novels where you are tumbling around in a narrator’s head with their messy thoughts, jumping from topic to topic in a manner that reflects how being alive and sentient feels to me. Perhaps you are talking to a beloved mentor, but you’re also caught up in studying a long-memorized pattern in the carpeting, and you’re half-aware of some back-burner emotional excitement about seeing your school friends later, and you also have a passing existential thought about your genealogical place in history and how slim the probability margins are for your own existence. There is room for all that and more (a full-page oatmeal recipe — why not?) inside a person’s head after all.
Sure, there are a few cultural hiccups that I’ll chalk up to the early-90s era. And Allegra is so ridiculously precocious that it’s best not to think about her actual age too hard. But, for a YA book about a kid figuring out how to live in the world of messy adult lives and traumas with openness and empathy, it has such a light touch, and I found it quite poignant.
The last time I read this book, Google barely existed, Youtube certainly didn’t, and a recording of Sophie Mutter’s 7:21 duration rendition of the third movement of Mozart’s Fourth Concerto in D was so laughably inaccessible to me that I just imagined some generic “classical music” in my head based on what I heard in ballet class. Now, I can listen to the music that functions as the backbone of our protagonist Allegra’s life! (I made a playlist on Idagio!) It’s so cool!
Anyway, I think this is a lovely read. I wonder if it’s maybe one of the first in my reading history that cemented a particular love for novels where you are tumbling around in a narrator’s head with their messy thoughts, jumping from topic to topic in a manner that reflects how being alive and sentient feels to me. Perhaps you are talking to a beloved mentor, but you’re also caught up in studying a long-memorized pattern in the carpeting, and you’re half-aware of some back-burner emotional excitement about seeing your school friends later, and you also have a passing existential thought about your genealogical place in history and how slim the probability margins are for your own existence. There is room for all that and more (a full-page oatmeal recipe — why not?) inside a person’s head after all.
Sure, there are a few cultural hiccups that I’ll chalk up to the early-90s era. And Allegra is so ridiculously precocious that it’s best not to think about her actual age too hard. But, for a YA book about a kid figuring out how to live in the world of messy adult lives and traumas with openness and empathy, it has such a light touch, and I found it quite poignant.
aceartemis7's review against another edition
2.0
It's been a while since I've read this book. Seems like I didnt like it when I read it. Can't remember what the book was about though. Guess it didn't make an impression on me.
dandelionfluff's review against another edition
4.0
I read this when I was about 13 or 14, and I loved it. I'll have to reread it so I can remember all the details, but I remember the feeling afterwards... It was the sensation of being quiet in myself and happy with what I'd read.
devafagan's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this so much! I had to force myself to read it slowly to savor all the beautiful little random stream-of-consciousness bits, and there were so many moments that just rang so true-- about life, love, loss, fear, music, art, everything.
andbirds's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0