Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear [Hardcover]

Lensey Namioka (Author), Kees De Kiefte (Illustrator), Kees De Kiefte (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

Recently arrived in Seattle from China, musically untalented Yingtao is faced with giving a violin performance to attract new students for his father when he would rather be working on friendships and playing baseball.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Newly transplanted to Seattle from his native China, nine-year-old Yingtao is a tone-deaf thorn among musical roses. His parents--professional musicians both--assume the problem is lack of practice and chide him for playing baseball (he's a natural) when he could be rehearsing with his virtuoso siblings for an upcoming family recital. When Yingtao hooks up with a new friend from school, a boy as talented musically as Yingtao is athletically and whose parents have put him in an opposite predicament--the boys scheme a "lip-syncing" violin switch for the recital quartet that finally opens the eyes of both families. Peppered with wry commentary on the often baffling experience of adapting to a new country and a new language, Beijing-born Namioka's fresh and funny novel serves up a slice of modern, multicultural American life. Her comic timing and deadpan delivery are reminiscent of Betsy Byars, and her book will leave readers begging for more. Dekiefte's keenly observed black-and-white sketches evoke a maximum of expression with a minimum of intrusion. illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-- Poor Yang Yingtao. From the moment he was born, nine years ago in China, his parents expected him to be as talented as his siblings and complete the family string quartet. The trouble is, he's tone deaf, but his family won't believe it. He knows he will let them down at the upcoming recital for his father's music students, when the string quartet is supposed to play a grand finale, impressing the audience with Father's skill as a teacher. The stakes are high. Yingtao's family has recently immigrated to America and his father, who plays violin for the Seattle Symphony, desperately needs more students to augment their meager income. Yingtao's friendship with curly haired Matthew eventually saves the day. Matthew's family regards his love of the violin with suspicion, wishing he would work harder at baseball. Joining Matthew at practice, Yingtao discovers he's a natural athlete. Namioka uses their growing friendship to explore cultural differences and the problems of adjustment to a new society with a light but sure touch. Warm, humorous black-and-white sketches illuminate each character with casual, but astute, perception. Simpler and less incisive than Bette Bao Lord's In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (HarperCollins, 1984), which is set in an earlier era, this multicultural music and sports story will have a broad appeal for young readers. --Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 134 pages
• Publisher: Joy St Books; 1st edition (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316597015
• ISBN-13: 978-0316597012
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,268,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for second, third, and fourth graders!, December 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear (Paperback)

This book is very funny and enjoyable. I read it just after it was published. My brother doesn't want to read it, but that's because he's a Nintendo addict. I wish he'd try it because he plays the violin and is almost as bad at it as Yingtao is. Young readers and young musicians will love this book, and kids who don't like to read should give it a chance-they'll like it too. Enjoy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Little quartet of horrors, August 16, 2005

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear (Paperback)

Being the youngest member of a talented family can be a hassle. You're constantly compared to your older siblings. It's difficult to get any respect. You struggle just to get your voice heard. Yingtao, the youngest member of the Yang family, has it even worse though. Not only are all his older siblings talented in the ways of music, but his mother and father have dedicated themselves towards the art and find the notion that Yingtao is tone-deaf inconceivable. How could this happen? Whatever the cause, the family has bigger issues than their youngest child. They've moved to Seattle from China and money is a constant concern. Yingtao, meanwhile, befriends a boy named Matthew at his school who's problems are the exact opposite of Yingtao's. Where Yingtao only wishes to play baseball and is instead forced to practice the violin, Matthew is forced to remain on the baseball team while in his heart he years to play a fiddle of his own. By putting their heads together, the two boys come up with a plan that will free them both from their family's expectations. IF they can pull it off.

Lensey Namioka skillfully pilots a potentially tricky plot into easy reading territory. Kids who are comfortable with chapter books but still shy away from 500 page fantasies may find comfort in this unprepossessing little story. Yingtao is a likable narrator, describing his inability to play the violin in tune with humor and resignation. He obviously knows his family very well and is far more forgiving and far-sighted than they are when it comes to individual flaws. Namioka handles the contemporary Chinese immigrant experience with a sure hand. There's a great moment where Yingtao and an Asian-American student have a serious miscommunication as to the origins of the other. If nothing else, the book should clarify a tiny bit the difference between the Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. The illustrations by Kees DeKiefte aren't going to blow anyone away, but they'll be welcomed by kids who still need a couple pictures here and there to get through a story.

The only problem I could potentially see with this book is the fact that after reading Yingtao's side of it, you find yourself not sympathizing with his older siblings in the least. This is a real problem, since they've continuing books of their own. One has to hope that they come off as slightly more sympathetic in future novels than they do here. Otherwise the book is a great read for those kids who want good baseball fiction but who's parents want a book with a little more meat to it. Consider paring this book with "Baseball Fever" by Johanna Hurwitz for another tale of a father not approving of his son's obsession with the game. For those kids who'd like to read some excellent fiction on the experience of Chinese-Americans, kids who play the violin, kids who hate the violin, kids who play soccer, kids who hate soccer, and all the kids in between.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yingtao Rocks!, January 12, 2002

By 

A 9-year old reader (Newton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear (Paperback)

In this boook, Yingtao Yang has a very very talented family. He has two sisters and one brother. Both his mother and his father played in an orchestra back in China where they lived before moving to Seatlle Washington, where this book takes place. Yingtao Yang plays the violin. Yingtao's brother,(Eldest Brother) and father also play the violin. His oldest sister,(Second Sister) plays the viola and his ten year old sister,(Third Sister)plays the cello. His mother plays the piano. Everyone in his family has a very very good ear. Except Yingtao. His father now taeches violin when he isin't in the orchestra. He is an altrnate in the orchestra.Yingtao's father says at his recital there will be a string quartet with all the Yang children, as the last peice,and Yingtao is afraid he will ruin the recital with his screechs on his violin. Then he and his new best freind, Matthew Conner who likes to play violin, do something very dangerous and sneaky at the recital..............