Mountain Solo [Paperback]

Jeanette Ingold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

Ever since Tess revealed her musical genius at age three, every choice in her life has been made for her. She's been moved to New York, enrolled in a special school, given the best violin teachers, and told when to practice and for how long. But no one ever told Tess what to do if she failed. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-Ingold explores the highs and lows of musical genius. Tess, 16, a violin prodigy since age 3, studies at an exclusive New York school, and is destined to become a virtuoso. However, after a disastrous performance at a recital in Germany, she abandons her violin and flees to Montana to spend the summer with her father and his new wife, an archaeologist searching for clues about early pioneer life in the area. As Tess gets drawn into the mystery of Frederik Bottner, who, she discovers, also played the violin, she is finally able to embrace the healing power of music, as well as her own destiny. Ingold alternates the stories of Frederik and Tess in a successful integration of contemporary and historical fiction. Both narratives are well paced and the transitions are never jarring. The characters are likable, and their love of music shines through. Mountain Solo is a good read for anyone fascinated by the power of music and its effects on individuals' lives.
Ronni Krasnow, New York Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Following a disastrous concert debut, 16-year-old violin prodigy Tess Thaler flees New York in search of a less stressful life with her father in Montana. As she adjusts to a new stepmother and stepsister during a family campout, Tess reviews the life choices that have been made for her thus far and considers the directions her life could take in the future. In the alternating points of view of teenage Tess, her younger self, and Frederick, a young German-born Montana homesteader with his own talent for playing the violin, characters contemplate their love of music, the opportunities their talents provide, and what will make them happy. Eventually Tess realizes that she would be lost without her music, but she and not her mother must direct her career. A plot tangent involving the historical archaeology of early-twentieth-century Montana helps to connect Frederick's narrative to Tess, though Tess never learns Frederick's full story. Pair this satisfying coming-of-age novel with Virginia Euwer Wolff's The Mozart Season (1991) or Patricia MacLachlan's The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt (1988). Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 309 pages
• Publisher: Graphia (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152053581
• ISBN-13: 978-0152053581
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,160,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Growing up, I liked cameras, my violin, reading, traveling, and running games. I flirted with becoming an actor (briefly, early, before playing a shadow, a flower, and a penguin). I didn't think about writing until I landed in a newsroom, assigned to obituaries, but it's been a straight line since.
I put a modern newsroom in my new novel, PAPER DAUGHTER. I hope you'll enjoy it and my other books for young adults. They include HITCH, a Christopher Award winner, and THE BIG BURN, historical fiction that VOYA called, "A must-read for adrenalin junkies."
Please visit me at www.jeanetteingold.com.

JEANETTE INGOLD's popular fiction for teens and middle school readers includes THE WINDOW, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and International Reading Association Young Adults' Choice; PICTURES, 1918, a Texas Lone Star Reading List book; AIRFIELD, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age; MOUNTAIN SOLO, a Missouri Mark Twain Award nominee and Texas TAYSHAS book; THE BIG BURN, a Montana Book Award Honor Book and winner of a Western Writers of America Spur Award for Juvenile Fiction; HITCH, a Society of School Librarians International Best Book; and PAPER DAUGHTER, recipient of an Oppenheimer Gold Seal.
Her short stories include "Moving On," in TIME CAPSUE: SHORT STORIES ABOUT TEENAGERS THROUGHOUT THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, edited by Donald R. Gallo; and "Word Drift," in XANADU 3, edited by Jane Yolen.
She lives and writes in Montana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Child Prodigy, August 23, 2007

By 

terryannlibrarian "terryann" (phoenix) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountain Solo (Paperback)

This is a quiet book but not a bad read. Tess goes to live with her father, stepmother and stepsister after a disasterous concert in Germany for which she was not emotionally ready. Tess has been playing violin since she was 4. Her pushy stage mom and granola father are equally sympathetic and supportive but unhelpful.
Unfortunately, the historical/mystery element actually detracts from Tess' emotional development and muddies the waters of this book. This is a good example of what can happen to child prodigies and the pressure that they can be under, but not the best book on the shelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lacking some structure, October 4, 2006

By 

polymergoddess (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountain Solo (Paperback)

I read this book because the idea of a struggling violinist and someone from the past providing inspiration intrigued me.

I found the stepsister's antics to be truly annoying which took away from the story progressing. Besides, the child behaved more like a 4-year-old than a 9-year-old they claimed her to be. I found myself skimming over the scenes containing her because they were so disruptive and not an integral part of anything.

The book draws us in about a MYSTERY of this violinist from the past. There wasn't anything mysterious that Tess really discovered. They found the original site of the house, but didn't let the reader know much about what was uncovered. The scientist was so fearful of disrupting the site that nobody got to enjoy it......nevermind it was a fictitious site which could have been written to be more interesting without worrying about disturbing a fictitious setting.

Uncovering the violinist's story didn't do anything to inspire Tess to pick up the violin again. The story he had was divulged to the reader, not to Tess or her stepmother so how could she have been inspired by an archeological site that nobody was allowed to see?

Perhaps this book was intended for children, but kids love mysterious things being dug up from the past. Sorry, Ms. Ingold, a discarded violin peg really didn't do it for us.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mountain Solo, February 6, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mountain Solo (Hardcover)

I thougth Mountain Solo was a great book. In Mountain Solo there is a girl that is a very good violinist. Also, she goes to Montana on a trip for a concert. She desides that she is better of staying in New York. I thougth that Mountain Solo was a GREAT book.