Middle Grade Matters

Ep. 37: Emily Barth Isler on Music and Neurodiversity in Middle Grade


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On this episode, I talk with Emily Barth Isler about her new middle grade novel, The Color of Sound, which tells the story of twelve-year-old Rosie, a musical prodigy whose synesthesia allows her to see music in colors. 

From the publisher:  Rosie's mom has always pushed her to become a concert violinist, but this summer Rosie refuses to play, wanting a "normal" life. Forced to spend the summer with her grandparents, Rosie is excited to meet another girl her age hanging out on their property. The girl is familiar, and Rosie quickly pieces it together: somehow, this girl is her mother, when her mother was twelve.

With help from this glitch in time―plus her grandparents, an improv group, and a new instrument―Rosie comes to understand her mother, herself, and her love of music in new ways.

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