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Library | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... North Tonawanda Public Library | 34120006178525 | YA FIC MILLS | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Imogen St. Pierre is a musical prodigy, a classical pianist touring Canada and abroad in a trio with her father and grandfather. Though clearly accomplished she is also painfully awkward socially, getting lost in the music even after it's over.
Imogen's in the final year in a private boarding school where she meets a boy of the same age, Nathan McCormick, who turns out to be the Next great hockey player. Nathan however has recently been penalized for a vicious fight in an international tournament. Imogen and Nathan don't exactly become an item, but there's an elusive special quality to their connection.
Jean Mills has given us a thoughtful, moving, powerful story about what it's like to be gifted and exceptional -- and still young.
Author Notes
Jean Mills is the author of four novels for young adult readers including Wild Dog Summer and The Legacy . She lives in Guelph, Ontario.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Imogen St. Pierre is a young, talented classical pianist, who is loved by many but has a difficult time understanding where she fits in. So far, her life has been fairly structured: she plays in a touring trio with her father and grandfather, she attends a private boarding school, and has her good friend Frederik to rely on. But as her last year of high school draws to an end, structure begins to give way to change, and Imogen has to decide what she wants to do with her life. Does she want to stay in town to play with a new ensemble of elite musicians or does she want to move away from home to experience college life without the structures she's traditionally relied on? This is a unique coming-of-age story perfect for readers who enjoy realistic, first-person narration with a focus on family life, friendships, and learning to accept yourself for who you are, despite the expectations of others. VERDICT A good addition to medium-to-large collections.-Tabitha Nordby, Red River College, Man. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Music and hockey are clumsily juxtaposed in an otherwise promising novel.While she is a piano prodigy, French-Canadian Imogen St. Pierre is also sensitive to noise, to crowds, to social interactions with strangers. Although she loves performing in a trio with Papa and Pre, her father and grandfather, the schmoozing and networking leave the 18-year-old Imogen silent and exhausted. During her final year of high school, surrounded by equally privileged and talented students, Imogen tries to decide what will make her happy in what's predicted to be a glittering future. Does it mean joining an up-and-coming concert music ensemble or going to university? Or is it spending time with the people she loves, her family and her friends? Imogen develops a new friendship with fellow introvert Nathan McCormick, a talented hockey player who has been suspended from playing. Nathan not only allows Imogen to discover what will make her happy, but gives her the strength to fight for her happiness. Although both Imogen and Nathan are prodigies, it is their personalities, not their talents, which connect them. This quiet novel follows Imogen's slow growth without resorting to loud emotional outbursts or jarring strife, and the relationship between Nathan and Imogen is more friendship than romance. Imogen and Nathan are white; while their school has many international students, all are seemingly white.Different and moving. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In the Canadian classical music world and beyond, Imogene is a phenomenally talented young pianist who tours in a trio with her father and grandfather. Now that Pére is retiring and Genny is finishing high school, what does her future hold? Is she ready to conquer new heights in a career just getting started, or should she step off the success train and catch her breath? Although music is her true joy, the anxious prodigy needs to crash after each performance and finds postconcert socializing unbearable. When Nathan, a hockey phenom and NHL prospect, enrolls in her private school to escape publicity for a while, the two thoughtful and exhausted teens, somewhat of an unlikely pair, find solace and comfort in a supportive friendship. Genny narrates, making this feel more like her story than Nathan's, but Mills shines a harsh spotlight on the life of both young elites expectations, grueling practice regimes, media pressure and the tough emotional and physical toll it takes. A fairly slow-paced, psychologically probing look at what it takes to be the best.--Anne O'Malley Copyright 2018 Booklist