Moving through her days like a vapor, seventeen-year-old Willie Steinberg sees the world in shades of blue. Her father is away from home more than ever, and her mother drinks a lot. Even Willie's beloved music--Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin--holds no joy. Nothing seems to penetrate the dull feeling of malaise. Willie can't manage to shake off. Nothing, that is except Malachi Gelb. He has no manners, and homely is too mild a word to describe him. Malachi is everthing Willie despises--but he may be the only true friend she has.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Willie Steinberg, the protagonist of Heart and Soul, a book for ages 12 and older, is a promising 17-year-old cellist and composer who's left her arty school in Philadelphia for a long, lousy summer in Virginia with her hapless mother. Her father is home most of the time and Willie hangs around a lot; the stifling heat of Richmond often doesn't allow for more. But she also involves herself with friends confronting their entry into adulthood. As Willie looks for the inspiration to write a symphony, she sinks lower into what could be called depression. Yet nothing is so clear in Heart and Soul as a clinical description; there's just the unsightly gray of teenage lament.
From Booklist
Gr. 8^-12. The consummate self-conscious outsider, Willie is having an identity crisis that has plummeted her into depression. Neither parent is much help: her dad is never home, and her mother seems barely able to take care of herself. It is only when Willie reluctantly becomes involved in helping prickly, troubled Malachi, a Jewish schoolmate with a chip on his shoulder, that she is able to see a clear path for herself. The first-person narrative, by turns vague and inspired, plunges readers into Willie's melancholy and confusion, but it's really Malachi who is the novel's strongest character. He is as much (perhaps even more) an outsider as Willie, and his prickly personality makes for some explosive scenes. This is an ambitious book, with many themes vying for attention--parent-child relationships, divorce, religious and class prejudice, self-esteem. But because most of them remain only partly developed, it will be patient readers who will be this novel's best audience. Stephanie Zvirin
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Liz Rosenberg is the author of 3 novels, 5 books of poems and more than 20 award winning books for children. She has edited five prize winning poetry anthologies (including THE INVISIBLE LADDER and LIGHT GATHERING POEMS) and her picture book, THE CAROUSEL was featured on PBS' Reading Rainbow. Her newest picture book, TYRANNOSAURUS DAD, illustrated by brilliant newcomer Matthew Myers, is a Children's Book of the Month Club bestseller, has garnered praise from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, School Library Journal and elsewhere, and was an Amazon top 10 children's book on dinosaurs, sports and family.
Her first novel for adults, HOME REPAIR was a Target Breakout book and voted top ten for Book Clubs and Most Likely to be Next Oprah Pick on Goodreads.
Liz Rosenberg was born and raised on Long Island. She met her husband, David, when they were 7 and 8 years old respectively, at summer camp. They became friends in high school, each married other people, and ten years after they had reconnected in high school, finally got married. They have been married 3 times to each other because they are both terrible at keeping track of paperwork. They have an actor son, Eli, and an 8 year old daughter, Lily.
Liz Rosenberg's first husband was the late great American novelist John Gardner, author of Grendel, Nickel Mountain, How to Become a Novelist and more than 25 other works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scholarship. Together they taught at the State University of Binghamton till his untimely death in l982 in a motorcycle accident. She continues as a full professor at Binghamton University's English Department and has guest taught all over the world, from Russia to Austria to Singapore, and at colleges throughout the United States. Ms. Rosenberg spends her time reading and writing. Her hobbies are reading and writing and her passions are-- right, reading and writing.
Her first novel for adults, HOME REPAIR was a Target Breakout book and voted top ten for Book Clubs and Most Likely to be Next Oprah Pick on Goodreads.
Liz Rosenberg was born and raised on Long Island. She met her husband, David, when they were 7 and 8 years old respectively, at summer camp. They became friends in high school, each married other people, and ten years after they had reconnected in high school, finally got married. They have been married 3 times to each other because they are both terrible at keeping track of paperwork. They have an actor son, Eli, and an 8 year old daughter, Lily.
Liz Rosenberg's first husband was the late great American novelist John Gardner, author of Grendel, Nickel Mountain, How to Become a Novelist and more than 25 other works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scholarship. Together they taught at the State University of Binghamton till his untimely death in l982 in a motorcycle accident. She continues as a full professor at Binghamton University's English Department and has guest taught all over the world, from Russia to Austria to Singapore, and at colleges throughout the United States. Ms. Rosenberg spends her time reading and writing. Her hobbies are reading and writing and her passions are-- right, reading and writing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I've read this book over and over again I like it so much.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heart and Soul (Paperback)
I don't really understand why I enjoy this book so much, afterall it's not really that exciting and I'm not one to sit through boring books but this book wasn't boring it was really interesting. I really felt like I knew Steinberg and the way she felt about things. All the characters were really intense and I enjoyed the story a lot.
5.0 out of 5 stars
love this book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heart and Soul (Paperback)
I love this novel, and like the other reviewer I'm not even sure I know why, I just do. Malachi is the best character I've come across in literature in a really long time. And as a musician, I can relate to the heroine of the book. Obviously this author knows a lot about music and what it feels like to be completely involved in it.
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