Second Fiddle: Or How to Tell a Blackbird from a Sausage

by Siobhán Parkinson

Book Overview

Aspiring writer Mags Clarke has just moved with her mother to a new area after the death of her father. Because her feet are usually firmly planted on the ground, Mags is cautious about befriending... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596431229
• ISBN13: 9781596431225
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 11 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 9

Customer Reviews

Great voice!

I love this book! The voice is strong; the internal dialogue is hilarious. I definitely recommend it.

The friendship evolves even as control issues arise in this moving story of music, loss, and getting

Mags has moved with her mother to a new area after the death of her father and is walking through a strange woods when she comes across a girl practicing the violin. The two become friends and Mags convinces Gillian to help find her absent father to travel to England to audition to a prestigious music school. The friendship evolves even as control issues arise in this moving story of music, loss, and getting along.

A lovely book

Second Fiddle is told from the point of view of Mags Clarke, aspiring writer. Mags comes across a girl playing a violin in the woods one day - a girl with remarkable musical talent. Her name is Gillian, and soon Mags takes it upon herself to help Gillian along with her quest to go to a famous (and expensive) school for musicians. But as Mags writes in the beginning, "This story is mainly about me. It was going to be mainly about Gillian, but I have to admit that, when it comes down to it, I find me more interesting." This was the best book I read in all of June. What captured me from the very beginning of this book was the voice the author gave to Mags as the narrator. Mags was smart, honest, and she felt completely real. It seemed as if the story was actually being written by this imaginative young girl. With its lovely descriptions and witty humor, Second Fiddle was an altogether delightful read.