Watermusic: By Sarah Sargent [Hardcover]

Sarah Sargent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1986 | Age Level: 11 and up

Laura's job playing the flute for anthropologist Mrs. Urhlander involves her in an attempt to revive an ancient batlike creature from its suspended animation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a strange but gentle metaphysical story of a young girl's discovery of the different planes of human existence. Thirteen-year-old Laura's mother is always nagging her to find friends and new activities, but Laura is content to read and play her flute. So when the eccentric Mrs. Uhrlander offers her a job helping unpack crates from the Uhrlanders' expeditions in the Andes, Laura accepts, hoping to please her mother. The girl discovers that her employer is not so much eccentric as spiritual; Mrs. Uhrlander calls Laura a kindred spirit as together they unpack strange musical instruments. Then Laura unpacks a giant white bata seraphand Mrs. Uhrlander explains that the ritual music they will play will awaken it. But the music awakens something else, too; down in the drains, a monster, an evil counterpart to the seraph's good, is coming. When Mrs. Uhrlander suddenly disappears, Laura must use her courage, imagination and sensitivity to face the monster. Deep and haunting, this story can be enjoyed both for its fine fantasy and its delicate symbolism.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9 As one of the characters comments, "This has to be one of the most amazing things I've ever heard of." Sargent's slender novel almost defies description, but it is so beautifully written that it's worth making a little extra effort to suspend disbelief. Thirteen-year-old Laura is hired by a neighbor to help her unpack a shipment of exotic South American artifacts. She is also expected to use her flute-playing ability , for a purpose not immediately made clear. She is amazed and horrified to discover that her music is to be the means by which a giant white bat, later described as a seraph, is to be revived from a thousand years' sleep. Her playing also arouses the darker side of creation as another mysterious being manifests itself in the ancient plumbing of the neighbor's house. This is a fantasy built on contrasts: between Laura's magical adventures and her everyday home life of laundry and take-out chicken, between wider physical and spiritual spheres, between the seraph, symbol of light and air but totally without feelings, and the sewer-dwelling ogre whose cry is "Love." Rich in symbolism, Watermusic is recommended for private enjoyment and reading aloud with thoughtful young teens. Barbara Hutcheson, Greater Victoria Public Library, B.C., Canada.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (Juv); First Edition edition (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899194362
• ISBN-13: 978-0899194363
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,622,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars thirlling, June 20, 2000

By 

shawn (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Watermusic: By Sarah Sargent (Hardcover)

This story revolves around a young flutest who takes ip an after school job at a neighbors house. It turns out to be more than expected when she finds out the job includs awakening an huge old bat.The story has a surprise twist. A good book to curl up with.