Beethoven in Paradise

by Barbara O'Connor

Overview

From Barbara O’Connor, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish, comes an inspiring story with humor, emotion, and a colorful cast of characters that shows readers that there’s room for genius wherever there’s a place for compassion. Perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Kate DiCamillo.

"You're just wasting your God-given talents if you don't get yourself something besides a little ole harmonica to play." Wylene made it sound so easy. Martin had always liked music -- liked to listen to it, liked to make up tunes in his head. But all he had to do was say the word "piano" to his father and all hell would break loose.His father thought music was for sissies, and was always mad at Martin for not being good at baseball. But with a lot of help from his friends Wylene and Sybil, and his grandmother, Hazeline, Martin learns that, although he can't change his father, he can learn to stick up for himself.

Don't miss Barbara O'Connor's other heartwarming middle-grade titles:
Wish
Wonderland
How to Steal a Dog
Greetings from Nowhere
Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia
The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester
The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis
On the Road to Mr. Mineo’s
Halfway to Harmony
and Dream, the standalone companion to Wish!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466809949
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	09/10/1999
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	166 KB
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Barbara O'Connor is the author of numerous acclaimed books for children, including Me and Rupert Goody, Greetings from Nowhere and How to Steal a Dog. She has been awarded the Parents' Choice Gold and Silver Awards, the Massachusetts Book Award, and the Dolly Gray Award, among many honors. As a child, she loved dogs, salamanders, tap dancing, school, and even homework. Her favorite days were when the bookmobile came to town. She was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and now lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts, a historic seaside village not far from Plymouth Rock.

Barbara O’Connor was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina. She has written many beloved and award-winning books for children, including Dream, Halfway to Harmony, How to Steal a Dog, and the #1 New York Times bestseller Wish.

Editorial Reviews

For every child who was ever forced to play sports, a kindred spirit: Martin, 12, the funny, angst-ridden, musically talented hero of O'Connor's first novel. "Paradise" is the name of the South Carolina trailer park where Martin lives with his long- suffering mother, sadistic father, and a peanut gallery of eccentric characters: ultra-shy Wylene, a handkerchief-factory worker who is Martin's closest friend and fellow music-lover; the scrawny, chain-smoking Hazeline, who wants her beloved grandson to stand up to his self-centered father, Ed, who believes that music is for sissies. Ed bullies the boy for daydreaming and pressures him to play on the Little League team, but he can't smother Martin's interest in a violin that he spies in a secondhand store. Wylene's purchase of the violin enables Martin to demonstrate his real talent and to experience genuine happiness; its destruction, in Ed's hands, induces Martin to take his first steps toward his destiny. Readers will relish this trip down South, and they couldn't ask for a better guide than O'Connor, who captures a young boy's heart and holds it out as a gift.

Kirkus Reviews

Martin. . .is musically talented and lives in a trailer park called Paradise. His macho father thinks that music is for wimps and that real boys play baseball.” —School Library Journal

“For every child who never wanted to play sports, a kindred spirit. . .Captures a young boy's heart and holds it out as a gift.” —Pointer, Kirkus Reviews

“Quirky characters populate this promising…first novel….” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher