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The Violin Players by Eileen Bluestone Sherman

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 17 Dec 2020

This book may be more than twenty years old but, as Kirkus said of the original publication in 1998, “its message is one that always bears repeating.” I dipped into the opening chapter expecting to read only the first few pages (ACHUKA generally prefers to highlight books that are making their first appearance) but ended up being swept along by the force of the main character. The book is told in the third person but is very much Melissa’s story. Sherman writes with pace and elan, making this an ideal novella for a journey or a wet afternoon.  No, it’s not Newbery or Carnegie Medal material and reading it may be a little like deciding to watch an old movie on TV instead of a contemporary drama, but sometimes old movies hit the spot. 

Melissa Jensen is unprepared when life takes a turn for the seemingly tragic: her father (a playwright and college lecturer) accepts a teaching assignment in a small town in the Midwest, far from her home and friends (and bagels) in New York City. She’s too old to throw a tantrum, and her father’s offer of letting her live in New York with her grandparents is simply not an option. No way will she follow their strict Orthodox Jewish rules when her own parents didn’t even make her go to Hebrew school.

Melissa’s reluctant arrival in Henryville brings some surprises. To her amazement, the college town offers more than she ever anticipated, including a fantastic school orchestra and the chance to star in the school play. And then there’s Daniel Goodman, the remarkable boy who shares Melissa’s passion for acting and playing the violin. Everything seems too good to be true until Melissa comes across something she has never experienced before – antisemitism. No one in the school suspects she is Jewish, but when Daniel is taunted by a bigoted schoolmate, Melissa must make a decision. Her choice to speak out should be clear-cut, but life is never that simple. The Violin Players examines the price we pay when bigotry is met with silence.

Waterstones
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Amazon

The Story Orchestra THE NUTCRACKER – ill Jessica Courtney-Tickle, text by Katy Flint

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A retelling of the classic Chirstmas ballet, with short (at just 10 seconds I found these a little tantalising and  often too brief to cover a reading of the text) extracts from the relevant section of the score.

It’s a clever way to show the way music and narrative combine and Courtney-Tickle’s illustrations are fittingly festive.

Waterstones

 

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Katherine Jenkins and husband Andrew Levitas to launch new children’s TV show

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eveningstandardSoprano Katherine Jenkins has realised her dream of working with her director husband, as the pair are bringing out a children’s TV series.

Earlier this year, Jenkins told the Standard how she hoped to bring together her background and that of her husband, Andrew Levitas, to create something.

Now the couple have found the perfect project, and today announced that they are busy on a new animated children’s show which will aim to spark youngsters’ interest in music.

 

Called Symphony Street, it will follow a group of musical characters and feature music from all genres, chosen by classical crossover star Jenkins.

via Katherine Jenkins and husband Andrew Levitas to launch new children’s TV show | TV | Staying In | London Evening Standard.

The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield ACHUKAreview

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bearandpiano
I’m not surprised this book was selected as a Highlight of the Season in The Bookseller’s Children’s Autumn Buyers Guide. It’s rather special. And it’s Litchfield’s first picture book. He will be opening The Bookseller’s Children Conference later this month when he will be exhibting (alongside five other illustrators) original artwork from this title.

I recommend a visit to his website:

davidlitchfield

From the end papers and the opening spread, the artwork in this picture book is stunning. And I love the variation in page layout. The designers have done a wonderful job.

But well-presented artwork also needs an original and moving story and this book has that also.

A bear discovers an old piano abandoned in the wood. He plays on the piano every day, practising for months and years until he can play so well that other bears come to listen. One night his playing is overheard by a girl and her father, who ‘discover’ him and entice him away to the city, where he performs in public and becomes a star on Broadway. He wins awards, is lauded, and feted. But he misses his home and his friends.

He returns to the forest. The piano has gone. His friends aren’t there. He is forlorn. But it turns out the piano has simply been moved to a safe position. His friends have been following his career. They are his fans too. He sits down and plays a special concert set just for them.

Litchfield’s forest and city illustrations are equally strong. I love, in particular, the auditorium double spread. The hardback’s dustjacket tells us that he uses “a variety of traditional techniques, assembling the different elements together in Photoshop to create large-scale, dramatic scenes.” We’re also told that the book was inspired by The White Stripes short 50-second song ‘Little Room’.

http://www.achuka.co.uk/reviews/?p=601

Teen opinion: My top five YA book and music combos

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Teen opinion: My top five YA book and music combos, by Guardian Children’s Books blogger ShadowKissedHannah

Follow the link to the fullpiece for YouTube videos of all the music:

1. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer trilogy by Michelle Hodkin – No One’s Here To Sleep by Naughty Boy Ft Bastille

When I first heard this song, the first thing I noticed was the haunting, almost sad tone to the lyrics and notes played, but even then this song is quietly powerful and captured me from the first beat. I feel this song links to the UOMD trilogy by Michelle Hodkin as both the trilogy and the song are underlined with desperation and a dumbfounding weight of emotion; the feeling of not being able to escape a fate bigger and badder than you could have ever imagined and realizing that it doesn’t matter how hard you try to hide your feelings or issues, that they’ll always find you in the end.

2. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead – The Wire by Haim

If you haven’t read the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead yet (shame on you! Joking, but this series is one of my top few favorite series EVER and you all should go and read them right now!), you may want to dodge this recommendation as spoilers! I do not want to be the cause of such a crime as spoiling someone of a book! SPOILERS FROM HERE. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. I feel like this song can be heavily linked to the last book in the Vampire Academy series, Last Sacrifice, as I feel like this would be the song Rose would make Adrian listen to instead of her awful excuse of why she cheated on him with Dimitri. I may love Rose and Dimitri together with all my heart, but what she did was wrong and her explanation was not good at all. This song manages to convey all of Rose’s reasoning and emotions about the “I SLEPT WITH DIMITRI WHEN WE WERE STILL TOGETHER BUT I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY FOR ME” section of the book, but it also puts across Roses resilience about how Adrian will find love again and be happy: “I just know I know I know I know that you’re going to be okay anyway”.

3. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare – Run This Town by Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West

I love to make fan-videos on youtube and I found the most perfect video using clips from the sadly failing City of Bones film with RTT in the background. Let me just say my fangirl heart soared as the two go perfectly together and ever since that moment I’ve always, and I mean always, related that song to the series. The strong and determined beat of the song and the lyrics (“Feeling it coming in the air, hear their screams from everywhere, I’m addicted to the thrill, of this dangerous love affair. Can’t be scared when it goes down, got a problem tell me now. Only thing what’s on my mind, who’s gonna run this town tonight?”) are both almost a direct translation from the books into song form, and it is obviously one of the most bad-ass songs I’ve ever listened too and never fails to get me pumped up, as if I was going into battle and could do back flips and stuff like that. Obviously I can do all those things now *coughs loudly* but that doesn’t mean I still don’t need awesome songs to help me!

4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas – Mercy by Hurts

Throne of Glass is one of the best YA fantasy sagas out there at the moment, and is packed with ALL of the feels. Mercy is such an emotive song, and links to Celaena’s character through the lyrics (lead me in chains, fill me with rage) and the conquering beat of the song sounds almost like a battle mantra. This song was yet again found through a fan video (a pretty amazing Teen Wolf one which you should ALL watch) and right from the moment I heard it I knew this song was for only the beautiful and bad-ass- meaning perfect for Celaena!

5. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter – Problem by Natalia Kills

For such an amazing trilogy, Gena Showalter’s White Rabbit Chronicles have hardly any hype surrounding them, which seems terribly unfair as this series is everything you could really want in a paranormal YA, and had me salivating for more as soon as I shut the last page. Ali Bell is a heroine born from grief and a burning vendetta, and learns that to be a bad-ass all you need to do is believe in the power you have inside of you, and never let anybody persuade you otherwise. Of course there is an extremely attractive male specimen who our Ali comes into contact with *sniggers*, and I feel the relationship between said specimen (his name is Cole) and Ali can be described with the lyrics of Natalia Kills’ song Problem. Ali is our good girl who is swayed to the darker side of life through a really bad thing which happens at the start of the book which I won’t explain as, well, spoilers, and Cole’s tempting purple eyes. Ali and Cole are a couple who are very, very hot together, but many others aren’t too sure of their relationship. They’re very problematic and sometimes down right rude to each other, but there’s definitely chemistry, and definitely some other emotions entwined in there.

 

via Teen opinion: My top five YA book and music combos | Children’s books | The Guardian.

Clare Grogan: I drew on my pop star past to write a book for my daughter

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Actor and 80s pop star Clare Grogan has written a second volume of stories for children about a budding pop star…

Clare’s new book, Tallulah on Tour, is available as an ebook on Amazon from April. Her first book, Tallulah and the Teenstars, will be reissued as an ebook next week

via Clare Grogan: I drew on my pop star past to write a book for my daughter | Life and style | The Guardian.