Playing Dad's Song

By D. Dina Friedman

Gus Moskowitz knows that sixth graders are too old to curl up under a quilt, but that's the only place he can hide from the school bully, his nagging older sister, and, worst of all, his father's death. It's been two years since Gus's father was killed in the World Trade Center, and Gus can't figure out how to move on. His mother thinks he needs to do something - anything - so she rents him an oboe and signs him up for lessons with her boss's elderly father, Mr. M. As Gus's friendship with Mr. M. develops, so does his passion for classical music, and soon he decides to compose a song of his own, a tribute to his father. But even if Gus can find a way to wrap up his father's life in a single song, will he ever find the courage to play it? In turns playful and poignant, Playing Dad's Song personalizes the losses at the World Trade Center in New York City by focusing on one child's struggle with the tragedy.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374371733
• ISBN13: 9780374371739
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.6" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

An important new book

I couldn't put this book down! "Playing Dad's Song" is a touching, beautiful, unsentimental story of a boy named Gus (lovable, idiosyncratic, and very real) grappling with an extraordinary challenge - how to reinvest in life following his beloved father's violent death at the World Trade Center. Young readers will recognize Gus in themselves and appreciate his sense of humor and his many struggles. As a bereavement therapist specializing in childhood and adult traumatic grief, Playing Dad's Song also rings true. This is an important book not only for the young reader but for adults, too. It will inspire parents and communities to rise above their own pain and reach out to bereaved children desperately in need of their guidance.

I loved this book

I thought this book for middle grade readers was a gem. It deals with strong emotions in a totally unsentimental manner. The main character Gus is so real I could smell him - worrying about the bully at school who calls him "pickleface," hiding under his blanket to mourn his father, learning to juggle to please his sister, and - through his oboe and his teacher - discovering for himself the healing power of music.