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THE SOUND OF LETTING GO
Author:
Ward, S.
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Class:
Fiction
Age: 12-19
Language: English
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LC: PZ7.5
Grade: 7-12
Print Run: 15000
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ISBN-13: 9780670015535
LCCN: 2013013098
Imprint: Viking
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Pub Date: 02/06/2014
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $17.99
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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388 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.52",
W 5.79",
D 1.28",
1.1375 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's Insight Catalog: Teen
Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 12th ed.
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 13th ed.
Senior High Core Collection, 20th ed.
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Awards:
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Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews
VOYA's Poetry Picks
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Starred Reviews:
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Publishers Weekly
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TIPS Subjects:
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Problem Novel
Family Life
Disabilities
Music
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BISAC Subjects: |
JUVENILE FICTION / Disabilities
JUVENILE FICTION / Love & Romance
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Stories in Verse
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LC Subjects:
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Autism, Fiction
Autism, Juvenile fiction
Families, Juvenile fiction
Family problems, Fiction
High schools, Fiction
High schools, Juvenile fiction
Jazz, Fiction
Jazz, Juvenile fiction
Novels in verse
Schools, Fiction
Schools, Juvenile fiction
Trumpet, Fiction
Trumpet, Juvenile fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Autism, Fiction
Family life, Fiction
High schools, Fiction
Jazz music, Fiction
Narrative poetry
Schools, Fiction
Trumpets, Fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
6
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Points: 7.0
Lexile Level:
940
Reading Counts Level:
7.3
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Points: 12.0
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles | 05/01/2014 |
| Rebelling to teach her parents a lesson when they insist on sending her little autistic brother to an institution, Daisy takes a walk on the wrong side of the tracks and falls for a slacker named Dave, even as an Irish exchange student musician reminds her of her talent. Daisy must choose between her brother and her parents, all while listening to the music of her heart. 400pp. |
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| Starred Reviews: |
| Publishers Weekly | 12/09/2013 |
| Ages 12-up. Kehoe's second novel-in-verse, after 2011's Audition, movingly evokes the conflicting emotions of 17-year-old Daisy Meehan as her family teeters on the edge of falling apart due to her younger brother Steven's violent episodes. A skilled trumpet player, Daisy has used music as a means of escape from her chaotic home life for years. However, her parents, burdened by caring for Steven, "who has morphed from challenging autistic boy/ to dangerous, nonverbal near-man," are unable to give her the support she needs. Now that they are considering placing Steven in an institution, Daisy is torn, craving a respite from being Steven's "third parent," but also dreading the hole in the family his absence would leave. Daisy's increasingly large acts of rebellion undermine her chance to cultivate a friendship with a foreign exchange student who shares her passion for jazz. Instead, she turns to an old friend, who is no stranger to family conflicts. This painfully honest portrait of a family in crisis raises questions about love, responsibility, and self-sacrifice as it moves gracefully to a difficult but realistic resolution. Agent: Catherine Drayton, InkWell Management. (Feb.). 400p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Booklist | 02/15/2014 |
| Grades 9-12. Autism is a family affair. When the child is on the severe end of the spectrum, the physicality develops in intensity, and the daily mood is measured by the fear of burnt toaster waffles. Daisy Meehan's younger brother, Steven, is reaching a point where his careworn parents are unable to withstand his strength. For years, Daisy has sought the comfort and solace of playing her trumpet in her basement studio and with her high-school jazz band. Kehoe chronicles the Meehans' saga, from managing Steven's autism to his eventual transfer to an assisted facility, using a soft and moving tempo of verse. Daisy's struggles to understand what is important for Steven, her parents, and her future lead her back to Dave, a childhood friend who is now an enticing bad boy; deeper into her friendship with Justine; and toward a musical alliance with Cal O'Casey, an Irish exchange student. All the while, it is the cadence of her music that transports Daisy through the rhythms of her awakening. Bush, Gail. 400p. Booklist Online. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2014. |
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| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 03/01/2014 |
| R. Gr. 7-10. Ever since Daisy's autistic younger brother, Steven, turned from unresponsive little boy to threatening manchild, she and her parents have lived on a knife-edge of tension, fearing that a loud sound, a burnt waffle, an errant bad smell could trigger a violent outburst. Daisy empathizes with her parents' desire to escape, finding release herself through playing her trumpet in the soundproofed room her parents have built for her. She knows that both her musical success and its limitations are due to her brother's condition; her survivor's guilt trumpets from every poem in this staggeringly honest verse novel about living with someone at the far end of the spectrum. What sets this work apart is that it tells the whole truth about that experience, from the strain it puts on a marriage, to the financial drain, to the compulsion to hide how bad things are and the isolation that brings, to the heightened emphasis on control and perfection that she and her mother experience, her with her music and her mother with her decorating and cooking skills. Readers may be surprised when Daisy balks at the idea of sending Steven to a group home, but it's just another way in which the book renders the deep ambivalence of the sibling experience with striking insight; Daisy wonders if she will ever be able to experience relief without guilt, and she questions whether there might be something in her that is broken and autistic, keeping her from true feelings. Kehoe also deploys a complex yet accessible metaphor via Daisy's contemplations about slavery in her U.S. history class, and she crafts a romance with a not-so-bad-after-all bad boy that begins as rebellion but ends as something like redemption. Gracefully eschewing platitudes about acceptance and advocacy, this is as real, poignant, and messy as it gets. KC. 400p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2014. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 11/01/2014 |
| 3. Star student and gifted trumpet player Daisy is furious when her parents decide they must institutionalize her autistic younger brother, whose increasing violence makes home life dangerous. The difficulty of decision-making is echoed in Daisy's mixed-up feelings about alluring bad boy Dave and Irish exchange student (and fellow jazz musician) Cal. Kehoe's novel in verse is a compassionately told, compelling story. jmb. 390pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 12/15/2013 |
| "Change...is scary." And family breakup is never easy. Learning that her parents plan to place her unpredictably violent autistic brother in a group home, accomplished trumpet player and responsible older sister Daisy Meehan experiments with bad behavior in her junior year in high school, trying to figure out how she feels about it. Is this freedom? Does she want it? The author of this moving story underscores her point as Daisy and exchange student Cal O'Casey work out a fictional autobiography of a newly freed slave for an AP history class. Has Daisy's family been enslaved by her autistic brother, now big and frighteningly strong but still nonverbal? Will Cal, also a talented jazz musician, be a slave to his family's business back in Ireland, or her old friend-turned-boyfriend Dave Miller to his family's straitened circumstances? What does/would 13-year-old Steven want? As she ponders the dissolution of her own family, Daisy also considers her friends' parents' divorces. Families come apart in many ways and for many reasons, but in a small New Hampshire town, most everyone knows what's going on. Written in short lines of free verse and short chapters, this accessible narrative moves along quickly and believably, ending satisfyingly without suggesting that all has been resolved. An intriguing medley of music, teen romance, high school life and serious family issues. (Fiction. 13-18). 400pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2013. |
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| School Library Journal | 02/01/2014 |
| Gr 7 Up. Daisy Meehan is the kind of daughter who makes her parents proud. She is studious, a musical prodigy, and sacrifices her social life to help out with her brother, Steven, who has a severe form of autism. But when Daisy's parents decide to institutionalize her increasingly violent brother, she revolts. She quits band and starts dating the local bad boy. Kehoe's verse novel is a raw look at conflicting emotions and the healing power of music. Readers will be immersed in Daisy's battle between relief and guilt as she comes to terms with the fact that her brother will be separated from his family. She feels trapped in the quiet, careful household created to appease Steven, and her tension is alleviated at the idea of living without her brother. Daisy must then confront her own guilt over her feelings. Kehoe explores the power of music as it heals not only Daisy's pains but calms her brother's violent outbursts. This realistic portrayal of a family nearly torn apart by crisis will interest fans of romance, music, and drama. Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY. 400p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2014. |
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| ~VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine - Retired Journal) | 02/01/2014 |
| 4Q 4P J S. Being a teenager is never easy, especially when you are living with a violent, autistic brother. This is a major problem that Daisy Meehan must face in this coming-of-age, first-person narrative account. Daisy is an honor student and an extremely gifted trumpet player in her high school band. Opportunities abound for her acceptance into prestigious music programs. However, life with her autistic brother, Steven, has caused major turmoil in her household, drifting her parents away from each other and from her. She has always been there for Steven, but she begins to feel guilty about always having to adjust her life for him. To complicate matters, she becomes romantically involved with her childhood friend, Dave, who has adopted a bad-boy attitude. Meanwhile, Irish exchange student and baritone saxophone player Cal has expressed more than a musical interest in Daisy. Kehoe writes poetically with proselike verse. The style makes it a fast read. The book consists of thought-provoking yet concise chapters, many only one page or less in length. Kehoe does an excellent job of delving into Daisy's feelings and insights as she wrestles through many problem-filled situations. For a coming-of-age novel with a romantic backdrop, The Sound of Letting Go ranks among the best in its genre. Introspective and at times heart wrenching, the book will have a wide appeal for many female teenage readers.--Ursula Adams. 400p. VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES, c2014. |
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9780670015535,dl.it[0].title
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