MMGM: Duet, by Elise Broach

If you are musical at all, if you like the piano, if you like Chopin—then I have two strong recommendations for you. The first is this wonderful book by Elise Broach about a goldfinch and a young pianist (and a mystery about a piano).

It's been ten years since I posted about the last Elise Broach book I read, Masterpiece, which is about a beetle and a young artist and Albrecht Durer. I was impressed enough by that book that when I saw her name on a book spine at the library, I immediately took it home.

Broach has a wonderful way of introducing young readers to art and music with such compelling storytelling that the reader never realizes how much they are learning! In the case of Duet, we have the characters of Mirabelle, a young goldfinch with a gift for singing, and Michael, a gifted young pianist who doesn't want a new piano teacher. Mirabelle becomes Michael's muse, singing as he plays and inspiring him to play even better. The description of the music is beautiful and inviting: I looked up the Chopin pieces mentioned so that I could hear what they sounded like! Mirabelle and Michael's friendship is believable and sweet—they can't speak to each other, (Mirabelle is a precocious bird, but still just a bird) but they communicate nonetheless, and each fills a void in the other's life

There is a whole cast of engaging supporting characters, both bird and human. Mirabelle's bird family is a delight! Mr. Starek the piano teacher has his own little story arc, and it's lovely to see everyone coming together to help him in different ways. The mystery of a famous lost piano is solved by Mirabelle and her brothers, and Michael has a satisfying journey developing his piano talent.

A beautiful, uplifting story that will send readers out to find out more about Chopin, and might even inspire them to work on their own talent, whatever it is.

Then you can go watch an animated series on Netflix called Forest of Piano. It's the story of two piano students, one privileged and dedicated, the other with a wild, inherent talent but from the wrong side of the tracks. It follows them all the way from boyhood to teenagers competing in the International Chopin competition. It's a story of music, of friendship, of mentorship, of genius, and there is a lot of Chopin music played and explained. It's also a pretty good depiction of the stress of music competitions, which I could relate to! (From Kiwanis Festivals, not Chopin competitions!) The soundtrack was played by Vladimir Ashkenazy, and the animators did a fantastic job of animating the fingers playing the piano!

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday has been a running feature for more than a decade now, highlighting great middle-grade reads every week. Be sure to head to Greg Pattridge's blog to see this week's collection.

A Year's Worth of Reading

Time to talk about books again! It's not that I haven't been reading at all this past year, but other areas of my life have gotten a lot busier (as often happens when you say yes to opportunities!). April is an odd time to do a Reading Roundup, but time is arbitrary, and here we are. (This is mostly for my own benefit, anyway.) Divided into star ratings but otherwise in no particular order. (I should point out that most of these are adult books; I was in a bit of a children's lit slump the past year, but I am currently rectifying that: stay tuned!)

5 Star Reads (Loved to pieces, would read again)

Scholomance series, Naomi Novik. Y'all were right, it's awsome!

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus. Worth the hype.

Begin Again, When You Get the Chance, Tweet Cute, by Emma Lord. All her romances are the best.

4 Star Reads (Really enjoyed, might read again, will seek out this author)

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, Megan Bannan. Unique and fun, with heart (ha ha).

Jennifer Crusie: a whole bunch of her rom-coms; I just love them all.

Olivia Atwater: Regency and Victorian Fairy Tales. I think I've read them all now. They're so much fun!

Brandon Sanderson: The Way of Kings, Tress of the Emerald Sea. Figured I should see what he's all about. Imaginative world-building and propulsive plots—I'll read more.

Map of the Otherlands, Heather Fawcett. A worthy sequel to Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies.

When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill. Fascinating, angry.

Whispering Woods, Sharon Shinn. Latest in her Elemental Blessings series, which I love.

Kate Stradling: Deathmark, Maid and Minstrel. Fairy tale retellings. I love everything she writes.

Happy City, Charles Montgomery. The one non-fiction on my list. Urban design fascinates me.

Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher. Sleeping beauty remix. Loved the main character.

Gothel and the Maiden Prince, W. R. Gingell. Rapunzel remix, similar in feeling to Thornhedge. My first but not my last by this author.

Annette Marie: The Guild Codex series. Signed up for Kindle Unlimited to get access to the dozens of books in this entertaining urban fantasy series. Bonus: set in Vancouver! Very fun and readable.

3 Star Books (Enjoyed, might read more by the author)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V. E. Schwab. Interesting and well-written.

The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang

The Bodyguard, Karen Center

Ali Hazelwood: Love on the Brain, The Love Hypothesis

Little Thieves, Margaret Owen