Inspirational book for children/teenagers

[bernhard]

There are children's books on all sorts of subjects, but almost none that I have seen have the piano and pianists as part of the story line. One exception I found recently was Carol Montparker's "Polly and the Piano"

https://www.montparker.com/books.html#Polly

Do you know of any similar books? Although the piano would be my main interest, if there is none, other intruments are fine. I am interested on the age group 4 - 12.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[whynot]

Well, these are old but probably easy to find in the UK (not so easy where I am)... I love a series by Noel Streatfeild (that's really the spelling) based on children who are training for various performance careers.  They're called the Shoes series:  Ballet Shoes, Theatre Shoes, Movie Shoes etc.  They're pretty romantic in the old-fashioned sense but stress both hard work and the rewards of same, and are very engaging.  The characters aren't taking lessons from the neighborhood teacher for the heck of it, they are in rigorous training programs.  Of course, the families are always destitute and have to overcome all kinds of obstacles, drawing many tears before the end.  Maybe geared to the high end of your age request.  Hope this helps!   

[squinchy]

There was a book called Play the Bach, Dear! that was about a girl who hated the piano and ended up having her teacher lie (lay?) inside the piano during her recital and play her piece for her. It also mentioned her teacher living inside her piano in her apartment.

Not very inspirational.

There was also a book called Broken Chords that was about a girl in a who was a maniacal practicer and a prodigy. She was doing very well in a prestigious competition, but broke her wrist during ballet and discovered that she had absolutely no passion for the piano. She loses her boyfriend and nearly her mother's love because of her decision to quit.

Not very inspirational either.

Another book is titled Ying the Youngest and his Terrible Ear. It's actually more of an "East meets West" story. The Chinese boy (Ying) comes from a family of musicians but has no sense of pitch. However, he hits fastpitches and curveballs well. Predictably, he meets an American boy who has no desire to play baseball but has aptitude for music. They become friends, they switch fields, the "young person" is exposed to cultural differences, the end. I suppose one could be inspired by the American boy who wanted to play the violin, but his desire has no prominence in the book.

Not as uninspirational as the others, but not inspirational either.

Most "young people's" books or coming-of-age stories that I've read are about discovering that one does not like their instrument, possibly because publishers do not believe that any "young person" can relate to a character who loves her instrument to bits.

[Hmoll]

Ayn Rand - "The Fountainhead."   Just kidding.

Seriously, not music related at all, but I found Jonathan Livingston Seagull very inspirational when I was a kid. Haven't read it since, so my opinion might be different now.

[marialice]

I can't think of any inspirational books for that age group (< 12), but for people a bit older I do have a little recommendation.

Anna Enquist - The Secret (het geheim)

Music as a restful haven–this is the theme we encounter in both Anna Enquist’s poetry and in her novels. Her first novel, Het meesterstuk (The Masterpiece), followed the storyline of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and her second novel, Het geheim (The Secret), is composed and conducted like a piece of music. Three storylines run through the book like themes in a composition, sometimes merging, sometimes overlapping, and sometimes going in completely different directions: the story of Wanda, the story of her past and the story of Bouw, the man she left.

Concert pianist Wanda Wiericke sees music as a way of escaping reality. It is her answer to questions about her place in the world: ‘An answer in which the question dissolves.’ It is so important to her that, when forced to choose, she even leaves her husband for it. But after Wanda’s mother literally spits up ‘the secret’ on her deathbed, Wanda is no longer able to withdraw into music. A rheumatic disorder prevents her from playing. She is forced to face the facts, and retreats to the Pyrenees, where she doesn’t touch a piano again until she has come to terms with her past.

Everything in Het geheim is interwoven with piano playing; also the imagery is derived from music. Bouw is described as ‘Schumann’s toccata: strong, compact, overflowing with power’. Enquist originally trained as a pianist and everything she says about piano playing also applies to her writing. She writes the way Wanda plays: entering a composition by touch, ‘prepared to wander in any direction, ready to find meaning in the most unlikely places’. Enquist’s novel is a quest for insight, it works towards a catharsis. She offers no easy solutions. The book’s climax doesn’t come with the revelation of the secret, but in the process of coming to terms with it.

[ptmidwest]

(Of course, for the little ones, there are the stories in the Music for Little Mozarts series from Alfred.  I don't use the series, but I suppose the stories could be adaptable...)

[bernhard]

Thank you for the suggestions.

I will look into them (hmmm, it seems like there may be an unexplored niche in the market here )

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[m1469]

Actually it got me thinking about it (writing one), though I am not sure I would have thought about it before you brought it up... he he

m1469