Second Fiddle (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Second Fiddle Claire Gross Parry, Rosanne . Second Fiddle. Random House, 2011. [240p]. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96196-0 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86196-3 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-89350-6 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 5-7. Jody, daughter of a soldier stationed in Berlin in 1990, is walking home from stringtrio practice with Giselle and Vivian (also expats and fellow eighth-graders) when they witness a Soviet soldier beaten and thrown into the river by his own officers; they drag him from the water, perform CPR, and, despite their misgivings, become invested in his survival. Arvo, the soldier, just wants to return home to agitate for his people's independence from the USSR (he's Estonian), but he has uncovered a plot by the KGB to sell poison gas to Iraq, and if he stays in East Berlin, he's doomed. The obvious solution, of course, is for the girls to invite Arvo to pose as their music teacher and accompany them to their chamber competition in Paris—right? What could go wrong? The trio's efforts to survive in Paris—including busking, playing for a gallery opening, patronizing a famed literary salon, and befriending a gypsy family of fellow performers—and earn back their train fare after being apparently abandoned and robbed by Arvo are among the most vivid and fascinating of the novel. Unfortunately, they are also brief and largely tangential. Both violence and triumph play out with an odd sense of distance, making the book almost too understated (not helped by the frequent "if I had known then" interjections); while the international intrigue and the mundane teen anxieties are well captured and appealing, their blending is somewhat clumsy, and they're set amid considerable contrivance. The political and historical backdrop, however, is perfectly age-pitched and deftly brought to life. Jody's military-kid longing for a long-term home and friendships is universally relatable, and her story provides a poignant window into a period of recent history still only sparsely covered by children's literature. [End Page 342] Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois