★ “A story that is as rich as it is delicious.”—Booklist, Starred
Franny Hansen is a 10-year-old piano prodigy living in Rusty Nail, Minnesota. Once the Coot Capitol of the world, in 1953 it's just a run-of-the-mill town with one traffic light and a bizarre cast of characters. She's long exhausted the talents of the town's only piano teacher and seems destined to perform at church events and school assemblies, until a mysterious Russian woman arrives in Rusty Nail. Franny's neighbors are convinced the "Commie" is a threat to their American way of life, but Franny's not so sure. Could this stranger be her ticket out of Rusty Nail?
Lesley M. M. Blume returns with the poignant and laugh-out-loud funny story of one girl's attempt to pursue the American dream in small town America.
“Blume has skillfully combined humor, history, and music to create an enjoyable novel that builds to a surprising crescendo.”—School Library Journal
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*Starred Review* Not much happens in Rusty Nail, Minnesota. Oh, it was once the Coot Capitol of the World, but now it's 1953, and that distinction is long past. Still, 10-year-old Franny Hansen and her raucous best friend, Sandy, manage to have fun, mostly involving harrassing prissy Nancy, the richest girl in town. There is one thing that Franny is serious about, and that's her piano playing. True, her teacher mostly sleeps through lessons (a cigarette dangling from her lips), but when Franny outplays Nancy in a school assembly, she knows her talent is something to be nutured. Then despair sets in. How can she progress when there's no one good enough to give her lessons? Enter Olga Malenkov. The locals buzz that a "commie" has come to town, but Franny is thrilled when she hears Olga play and realizes she would make a perfect teacher. Too bad, Olga wants nothing to do with Franny. Blume offers a story that is as rich as it is delicious. Using a narrative style that's slighty over the top, she sets Franny, by turn hopeful and hopeless, and her passion for the piano against the larger issues of the Red Scare that were so emblematic of the time. The characters, especially those in supporting roles, are as nuanced as they are humorous. Sandy is in equal parts proud of Franny's talent and threatened by it, and Mr. Hansen, who gave up his own musical dreams, shrugs off his ineffectuality to support his daughter. Read this one aloud and then talk about it. Cooper, Ilene
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Review
★ “A story that is as rich as it is delicious.”—Booklist, Starred
“Blume has skillfully combined humor, history, and music to create an enjoyable novel that builds to a surprising crescendo.”—School Library Journal
Lesley M. M. Blume is an author, journalist, columnist, and cultural observer based in New York City. She did her undergraduate work at Williams College and Oxford University, and took her graduate degree in history from Cambridge University, where she was a Herchel Smith fellow.
Ms. Blume has authored three critically-acclaimed children's novels for Knopf. Upon the release of her third novel, Tennyson, reviewers and critics placed her in the same class as writers Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, and Truman Capote ("Brilliant, unusual writing."--The Chicago Tribune). Ms. Blume's first collection of short stories, Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties, was published on September 14, 2010.
As a journalist, Ms. Blume began her career at The Jordan Times in Amman and Cronkite Productions in New York City. She later became an off-air reporter and researcher for ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel in Washington, D.C., where she helped cover the historic presidential election in 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and countless other events and topics.
Now writing full-time, Ms. Blume covers culture, media, politics, and fashion (and sometimes the thorny politics of fashion). Her work has appeared in many publications, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, and The Daily Beast, among others. She co-created and served as founding editor of The Window, Barneys New York's online fashion and culture magazine, where she remains editor-at-large; she is also The Huffington Post's longtime contributing style editor.
On November 1, 2010, Chronicle Books released to great acclaim Let's Bring Back, a book by Ms. Blume based on her popular column of the same name for The Huffington Post. Starting in 2012, Chronicle will release a series of topic-specific editions of Let's Bring Back, as well as a line of ancillary products.
Ms. Blume lives in Greenwich Village with her husband and their French bulldog, who was a featured character in Ms. Blume's bestselling book, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters.
Sadly, most of her heroes and heroines are dead or fictional. They include but are not restricted to: Diana Vreeland, Marlene Dietrich, Isak Dinesen, Katharine Graham, Zero Mostel, Royal Tenenbaum, the Marchesa Casati, Oscar Wilde, Elsa Schiaparelli, Anthony Blanche, Flora Post, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lee Miller, Edith Wharton, and Collette.
Lesley M.M. Blume's THE RISING STAR OF RUSTY NAIL tells of piano prodigy Franny, living in a sleepy farm town watching her talents go to waste - until a mysterious Russian woman awakens the town's fears. But Franny sees her as a ticket out of town: can she defy the town's prejudices to see a way out?
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Frances Hansen is a child piano prodigy - or that's what her dad thinks, anyway. She loves the way she feels when she plays, but it feels pointless to practice when there's no one in Rusty Nail, Minnesota to play for. When it's announced that an important visitor is coming to town, Frances sees it as her only chance to become "discovered" . . . but she has a tough enemy in Nancy "Prancy" Orilee, the richest girl in town, who also wants to be a pianist sensation.
The author has captured small-town-in-the-Midwest life to an almost uncanny perfection. The book had me laughing aloud more than once! It was completely witty and delightful, and the descriptions and characters were all a joy to read. Lesley M. M. Blume is a rising star in children's literature, and you most certainly won't want to miss her new and dazzling story of a small-town girl with big dreams.
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Franny and Sandy are enchantingly naughty without being purposely "bad". They just like to have a good time. Their friendship; the rivalry between Franny and the snooty Nancy; Franny's pianistic aspirations, so out of the ordinary for the time and place she is growing up; the mysterious and haughty Olga...the book has a well woven and well thought-out plot progression and is written in great style. It's funny, it's touching, it's a great book!
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