SEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT
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$18.99
Regular price $22.99
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SEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT
Sale price
$18.99
Regular price $22.99
SEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT
From award-winning author A.C. LeMieux (ALA Best Book, Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award) comes an upper-middle-grade / younger YA contemporary novel told in a distinctive, intimate, often humorous first-person voice, grounded in lived family experience of Williams syndrome.
What if your biggest “difference” is your biggest superpower?
Fourteen-year-old alto sax player Daniel James Durkin Jr. was born with Williams syndrome (“WS”), a rare genetic condition that brings both startling gifts and stubborn challenges. Going into freshman year, his two biggest goals are simple: make friends, and make music.
Daniel’s senses don’t always play by typical rules. He “sees” music in colors, “feels” certain noises like physical attacks, and his visual-spatial perception can be unreliable with stairs, puzzles, or maps. At Stonebridge High, even finding his way to the next class can be tricky—never mind navigating academic and social mazes, or the exacting field drills of marching band. Anxiety—a WS “bonus feature”—lurks nearby, ready to spike at any number of provocations:
When a Homecoming disaster and a betrayal that shatters a long-held musical dream threaten to derail everything, Daniel is forced to question his faith in others, his place in the band, and his belief in himself.
SEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT offers a hopeful yet unflinching, anti-ableist portrait of a neurodivergent teen finding his way toward identity, agency, belonging, and hard-won joy.
From award-winning author A.C. LeMieux (ALA Best Book, Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award) comes an upper-middle-grade / younger YA contemporary novel told in a distinctive, intimate, often humorous first-person voice, grounded in lived family experience of Williams syndrome.
What if your biggest “difference” is your biggest superpower?
Fourteen-year-old alto sax player Daniel James Durkin Jr. was born with Williams syndrome (“WS”), a rare genetic condition that brings both startling gifts and stubborn challenges. Going into freshman year, his two biggest goals are simple: make friends, and make music.
Daniel’s senses don’t always play by typical rules. He “sees” music in colors, “feels” certain noises like physical attacks, and his visual-spatial perception can be unreliable with stairs, puzzles, or maps. At Stonebridge High, even finding his way to the next class can be tricky—never mind navigating academic and social mazes, or the exacting field drills of marching band. Anxiety—a WS “bonus feature”—lurks nearby, ready to spike at any number of provocations:
- A rival sax player’s casual, escalating meanness
- An old-school Social Studies teacher who resists Special Ed accommodations
- A well-meaning librarian mom whose hovering keeps colliding with his need for independence
When a Homecoming disaster and a betrayal that shatters a long-held musical dream threaten to derail everything, Daniel is forced to question his faith in others, his place in the band, and his belief in himself.
SEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT offers a hopeful yet unflinching, anti-ableist portrait of a neurodivergent teen finding his way toward identity, agency, belonging, and hard-won joy.