Customer Reviews

Mountain Solo

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.