Broken Chords

Despite her musical talent, Clara holds serious doubts about pursuing a career, and when she injures her hand, she hides the injury from her musician parents and finds romance with competitor Michael.

Grade 6-9-Clara has been studying piano since she was a youngster, and her musician parents have set their sights on a concert career for their daughter, a decision made without her input. Now Clara is 17 and is feverishly preparing for a prestigious competition. Winning would insure her start as a professional concert pianist, yet it is not clear that this is what she wants. Four years earlier, her piano teacher intervened on her behalf to convince Clara's mother to allow the girl to study ballet as well. Now, two weeks before the piano competition, a hand injury forces her to give up practice for a few days, thus giving her time to think about things that have been bothering her all along. Much of the story is predictable, although there are a few surprises at the end. Clara is the best-drawn character; most of the others are stereotypical. Her mother, a famous conductor whom Clara refers to sarcastically as Maestra, is sternly focused on her daughter's musical future. Her father is a bit more understanding. Her little brother envies the attention Clara gets. Tashi, Clara's piano teacher, is the paragon of understanding and patience. A subplot involving a romance between Clara and another music student is awkward. Though the issue Gilbert deals with is an important one for young adults, the story is not particularly compelling.
Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Readers do not have to understand Bach or Rachmaninoff to appreciate the conflicts plaguing 17-year-old Clara, a gifted pianist favored to win the prestigious Nicklaus competition. Her mother, who conducts the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and her father, once a baritone opera star, have great aspirations for their virtuoso pianist daughter; the question is, does she have the same aspirations? Gilbert (Stone Water) divides the story into three "movements" that trace Clara's emerging doubts about becoming a performing artist. The turning point comes when a wrist injury keeps her away from the piano for two weeks. During this "interval," Clara gets her first taste of how life would be without her daily three-hour practice sessionsAshe attends a football game, spends time with friends at McDonald's and (strangely) rehearses ballet. The climax comes on the final day of the prize competition, when the idea of giving up music for good begins to take hold. The ending of the book borders on hokey, and the characterizations of Clara's accompanying players are painted with broad strokes: her Russian piano teacher, the stage mother and love interest Marshall Hammonds Lawrence, a handsome boy from a poor background who possesses a passion for music that Clara lacks. The strength of the novel lies not in the too-neatly orchestrated plot, but rather in the heroine's in-depth exploration of what she truly wants for herself. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gilbert (Stone Water, 1996, etc.) writes sympathetically about a musical prodigy who yearns to be a normal teenager; a story that could have easily fallen to clich becomes a penetrating study of the difference between technical brilliance and true virtuosity. Clara Alexander Lorenzo has never really considered her parents' pronouncements that she must share her gifts with the world; suddenly, at 17, and a finalist in a competition that would assure her a full scholarship at Juilliard, she finds that the idea of becoming a concert pianist leaves her hollow. In this involving novel, the other characters are acutely drawn, each representing a part of Clara herselfHolly, her cheerleading best friend; Marshall, a committed pianist and intense love-interest; her parents, whose hopes and dreams are wrapped up in music; and Tashi, her gentle, guiding teacher, whose wisdom, perceptions, and stories of her sacrifices in her Russian homeland give Clara courage. Descriptive passages of playing are well-crafted, and Clara's doubts about the piano are effectively juxtaposed with her passion for balletshe is not particularly adept, but it stirs something in her. The tension builds to the competition, ending with Clara's decision and small, unexpected gestures from the people she loves. A compassionate work. (Fiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.