The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island by Marni Fogelson (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island by Marni Fogelson April Spisak Fogelson, Marni The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island; written by Marni Fogelson and Mahani Teave; illus. by Marta Álvarez Miguéns. Sourcebooks, 2023 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781728262314 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 2-4 This picture book biography focuses on the life and activism of Mahani Teave, a talented musician who grew up on Rapa Nui (known more widely as Easter Island, a designation assigned to it by Dutch explorers in the early 1700s), left to pursue a career as a concert pianist, and ultimately returned home to help repair environmental damage to her island and begin a musical school. Frequent time jumps, heavy use of similes, and clever, enthusiastic asides all create an informal pace and tone that is accessible to young readers, and the book wisely focuses on the activism done on one island, narrowing the overwhelming global crisis of climate change down to a specific school that is a model of recycling and creative, intelligent use of natural resources. The illustrations are dreamy and bright with highlights of organic shades and flowing, peaceful lines, emphasizing the natural beauty even while there are grave concerns about, for example, the environmental damage tourists have done to the land or the shocking amount of trash in the surrounding ocean. Extensive end matter rewards the persistent reader with a wealth of information about Earthships (the type of innovative and environmentally friendly building blueprint used to construct the music school), background on the island language and culture, and a biography of Teave's life that provides further detail about the dates she studied, her musical career, and what specifically drew her back to Rapa Nui. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois