Coming of age with a distinct soundtrack...

books:


	• The Song Reader Lisa Tucker Downtown Press, 2005 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 53 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I WANTED to like it ....

Leeann Norris has an older sister with a gift. Her name is Mary Beth, and she is a "Song Reader". She translates people's deepest secrets and most sought after wishes by analyzing the songs that they cannot get out of their heads.

The two sisters get hit with drastic changes in their life when their mother dies in a car crash, and their father disappears. From this point on, Mary Beth gets thrown into becoming a parent to 14 year old Leeann.

Together the pair live a content and unconventional life full of unconditional love and tight bonds. Mary Beth's song reading business is booming, and Leeann is adjusted in a sufficient teenage life with two best friends and good grades.

When Mary Beth's "gift" opens up a can of worms, exposing a heartbreaking secret involving one of their neighbors, their life takes another traumatic turn. The outcome of this uncovered secret, throws Mary Beth into a severe depression, and forces Leeann now to become the adult while she struggles to comprehend her family's own released demons.

While I thought that THE SONG READER had a really good premise, I felt that there were many parts that were incomplete and tiresome -- Especially from the middle moving towards the end. The storyline becomes muddled and the secondary characters grew to be boring and futile. It also didn't help that the ending was extremely confusing and abrupt.

2 1/2 stars.

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Quirky family drama

Mary Beth raises her little sister Leeann after their mother dies in a car crash (their father ran away years ago). Mary Beth has a talent for reading the songs that are important to people and how they manifest into their own life.
I fully enjoyed the family drama. How Leeann grew up sane in a slightly strange family. How we're all just finding our way, struggling to make sense of the chaos of life.
Tucker's descriptive writing of the character of Ben was so good that I had a crush on him.
The characters seemed very real.
A good read.

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Song Reader - A Girl and Her Songs

I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. In the beginning, I thought Mary Beth was the only sane one the book, but as it turns out, she was the one with the most problems - but getting to that ending was a phenomenal read.

Mary Beth is taking care of her sister, Leeann, because of the disappearance of their father and the death of their mother. She seems to have all in hand and is wise in the ways of the world, but then she gets it into her head that she can help people with their problems by analyzing the songs that run through their heads. Those type of melodies you hear over and over again and drives you "crazy." At first, it seems like she does indeed have the gift, but then she reads a "patient" wrong and her world as she knows breaks down. Leeann, through all this, is trying to terms with the disappearance of her father - why did he disappear. This all comes to a head at the end. There is a conclusion - but is it the right one? Mary Beth thinks so.

Read it and find out.

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Coming of age with a distinct soundtrack...

Throughout her adolescence, Leeann has always seen her older sister Mary Beth as a rock. Despite raising Leeann and an adopted toddler singlehandedly while only in her early twenties, Mary Beth makes everything look easy.

Mary Beth is, in fact, so good at helping others that she's launched a side business as a song reader. After her shifts at the local diner end, Mary Beth continues to see customers in their apartment, helping them chart the songs that run through their brains until they find connections between their emotions and lyrics.

As she enters high school, Leeann is alternately proud and jealous of Mary Beth, who seems to have everything, seemingly without effort. She's a tall, gorgeous blonde, with a quirky business that results in people's unending gratitude, supportive friends and a loving boyfriend.

Then Mary Beth's boyfriend abruptly leaves, and a local scandal involving one of her song reading clients causes the town to shun Mary Beth. Finally being faced with a situation that is simply too much to bear, Mary Beth shuts down, physically and emotionally.

Desperate to help her, Leeann decides to locate the father that Mary Beth never wanted her to contact, hoping he may be the one who can help bring their family back together. But will he actually make things worse?

Tucker's debut novel is beautifully written, in Leeann's clean young voice, full of anger at the things she doesn't understand, but hopeful for the future. Her characters are very realistic, making you root for them til the end.

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Almost loved it to a 5

I really loved this book and the author's insights into everyone's feelings until the last quarter of the book. The way it was tied up at the end, I thought was not in keeping with the progress the "song reader" was making in her life. Plus, it then ended really ubruptly. But, I loved the rest of the book so much I was still glad I read it and will look for more from this author.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Sure, we were a small family, but it wasn't lonely. We had the endless stream of my sister's customers and, of course, the music. Every day, all day, our stereo would play and Mary Beth would talk about the lyrics, what they really meant.

Leeann lives with her beautiful older sister -- the world's first and only "song reader." Everyone in their small town thinks Mary Beth is special, and Leeann does, too. Mary Beth helps people figure out how they really feel by using the songs they can't get out of their minds. And her advice is always right. But when Mary Beth makes a terrible mistake and half the town -- including the family of the one boy Leeann cares about -- turns against Mary Beth, Leeann will have to rethink everything she knows about her own family. She will have to be the stronger sister for a change. But she will also have a chance to discover that even an "ordinary" girl like herself can sometimes figure out what the music really means...

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