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Families. Fiction.
Country life. Fiction.
Singers. Fiction.
Reporters and reporting. Fiction.
Almost fifth-grader Sylvie Bloom lives on a Nebraska farm with her father, her wise eight-year-old brother, and her mother, who used to be a world-famous opera star. But now Min sings to the chickens and cows, and while she seems in love with her life, Sylvie wonders how can a family be enough when she had fame in her hands? Now one of her mother's singing partners is in concert nearby, making Sylvie uneasy. But other things are on her mind, too. She's spending the summer with the sheriff, writing his newsletter, filling it with poetry, and, through the process, discovering herself. Written in MacLachlan's signature spare style, this is in many ways as much parable as it is contemporary fiction. Girls usually don't spend their days with middle-aged men (two, in fact), win the town's affection with haiku, or have seemingly no friends but idyllic families. Yet, MacLachlan's writing is so immediate that it draws readers in and holds them close. Every page offers something to think about, and when the book is closed, there's more to ponder.
Kirkus ReviewsA gifted wordsmith wonders if her opera-singer mom misses her career.Fourth-grader Sylvie Bloom lives with her parents and younger brother on a Wyoming farm. Her mother was once an internationally renowned soprano but now sings only to cows, chickens, and sheep. This summer, talented Sylvie is assigned by her teacher to compose a daily column about local events for the town newspaper, employing any writing style she chooses. Through her warm, witty, and sharply observed comments and poetry, Sylvie affects neighbors' lives and helps bring about important changes in her community. Meanwhile, an invitation for the whole family from a famous tenor, mom's former duet partner, to his upcoming concert makes Sylvie worry that her mother unwillingly sacrificed her career for her kids and regrets abandoning her glamorous past. Hints from several friendly, wise adults that she already understands her mother's motives but hasn't yet acknowledged them to herself make Sylvie uneasy. This is a sweet, folksy, leisurely paced novel with gentle humor about family closeness and a young girl who discovers that practicing and sharing one's talents is actually quite simple. Characters default to white. MacLachlan's economic writing is sure and knowing, and her characters are likable and fully realized. Some readers may wonder, however, why it seemingly never before occurred to Sylvie just to ask her mother about her decision to forgo the stage. A quiet tale about finding your own voice. (Fiction. 8-11)
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)In a characteristically subtle novel set in rural Wyoming, MacLachlan intertwines past and present as she explores the truest meaning of family, home, and fulfillment. Ten-year-old Sylvie Bloom-s mother, a soprano who once performed in grand European concert halls, now uses her musical talent to calm their farm animals (she reserves
Gr 3-5Ten-year-old Sylvie Bloom enjoys an idyllic childhood with her parents and younger brother on their Casper, WY, farm. But a nagging concern that her mother, once an international opera singer, will eventually find their life dull and leave to return to the stage is not relieved by her mother's obvious joy in her present life, as she sings to the livestock and dances spontaneously with her husband. A summer assignment writing the sheriff's newspaper column exposes Sylvie to his wisdom, the goings-on in the town, and the eccentricities of its residents, but she must confront her fears when her mother's former singing partner comes to town for a concert. This short, quiet, lyrical novel moves along swiftly and is sprinkled with Sylvie's touching poetry. Characters are lightly drawn but distinctive and endearing, particularly Sylvie's brother Nate. Along the way, readers will learn a bit about music, community, and family ties. VERDICT A good choice for empathetic young readers and most middle grade shelves.Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
ALA Booklist
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
School Library Journal
* 1 *
Sweet Songs and Stinkbugs
My father, my younger brother Nate, and I sat on the hallway floor outside the one bathroom in our house. You might think we were waiting to use the bathroom, but that was not so.
We were listening to my mother sing. She likes to sing in the bathroom when she takes a shower. My father tiled the entire room, in fact. The tiles bounce her voice around so she can hear herself.
In the attic I found large posters of my mother, all dressed up in taffeta or silk, singing in great halls, fancy chandeliers above her. Her name, Melinda May, was written in large, important letters. Now my father calls her Min and she sings to the animals and in the tiled bathroom of our farmhouse.
When she sings in the shower we come to hear her. Nate hears my whistle and hurries in from the barn. My father comes in from the fields. Once he left his horse Jack by the back door and we later found Jack in the kitchen.
We heard the slap of the screen door, and Bett, our herding dog, came down the hallway to lie down next to my father.
"The herd is safe. Bett has come to be with her pack and listen," said my father softly.
My father set his cowboy hat on the floor next to him, his head leaning against the wall. His eyes were closed.
My mother's voice sounded lovely and clean, like newly washed glass.
"Un bel dí," my father said softly.
" 'A fine day.' "
My mother may not know all things about Johnny Cash, but my father has studied Puccini, who wrote the song my mother sings. My father knows all of my mother's songs and who wrote them--Puccini, Bizet, Mozart, and Donizetti.
My brother, Nate, pointed to a stinkbug crawling down the wall.
There is something about my eight-year-old brother, Nate--a sort of sly sweetness when he points out the strangely homely with the beautiful.
"Lovely," whispered Nate with a grin.
My father--good with words, remember--said Nate understands the connection of opposites: the sleek, shapely body of the bug and his bad smell.
"Summer vacation soon," said Nate.
I turned my head to look at Nate. "Do you ever want something exciting to do away from the farm in the summer? To see amazing things?"
Nate shook his head. "I'm happy here," he whispered. "It's amazing here. And exciting."
"I need something new," I said. "Something more interesting than cows and goats and chickens."
"Chickens are very, very interesting," said Nate. "Millie even likes to sit on my lap. Buddy plays tag with me."
"I need something different," I said.
"It will happen," said Nate. "It will."
I smiled because Nate sometimes sounds like a wise old man.
My mother finished her aria on a high, long note. She turned off the shower.
My father quickly got up. He didn't want my mother to be shy about us listening when she sang in the shower. Nate hurried off. Bett trotted after them.
All that was left behind was my father's handkerchief. And the stinkbug crawling back up the wall again, direction changed.
My mother came out of the shower and bent down to pick up the handkerchief.
She knew.
My mother knew everything.
Almost everything.
I wondered why she's happy singing in the shower instead of wearing a big silk dress and singing for a huge audience, who, when she is finished, leap to their feet and applaud. And someone gives her a huge bunch of flowers onstage as the velvet curtain falls.
Today I found a letter left open on the kitchen table for me to read. It was from James Grayson, a famous tenor, to my mother.
Melinda--
I will be singing a concert close to you. Please come. Maybe we can sing together again! I'll send you tickets.
James
I turned the letter over as if hiding it from myself. I remembered a large, fancy poster with a picture of my mother and James, looking happy and famous. How could she leave that behind to live on a farm in the middle of the prairie?
It is hard to believe that loving my father is enough.
It is hard to believe that Nate and I are enough.
Excerpted from Just Dance by Patricia MacLachlan
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
“[A] memorable story.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
From Newbery Award–winning author Patricia MacLachlan comes a “quiet tale about finding your own voice” (Kirkus Reviews) while learning to understand the people you love the most.
Sylvie Bloom wants to find something new and exciting this summer—at least more exciting than the cows, goats, and chickens on her family’s farm that she’s become accustomed to. Luckily, Sylvie’s teacher Mrs. Ludolf has the perfect idea. Sylvie can take over her husband Sheriff Ludolf’s column in the newspaper for the summer, reporting on all the important events that happen in their small Wyoming town. Sylvie is thrilled to have a new challenge, but she’s not sure she’ll actually see anything amazing. At least nothing like the things her mother saw when she traveled the world as a famous opera singer.
Sylvie can’t figure out why her mother would give up singing in front of thousands of people. Have she and her brother Nate been holding her mother back? And when her mother’s old duet partner James Grayson writes that he’s coming to perform nearby, will she be tempted to return to the stage, without them?