{"product_id":"see-the-music-hear-the-light","title":"SEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cspan\u003eSEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat if your biggest “difference” is your biggest superpower?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e 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:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA rival sax player’s casual, escalating meanness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAn old-school Social Studies teacher who resists Special Ed accommodations\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA well-meaning librarian mom whose hovering keeps colliding with his need for independence\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e Luckily, Daniel isn’t alone. The Resource Room crew—Mrs. Staley, Sallie, and Dalton 1.6—has his back. So do his music mentors, band director Mr. Beck and longtime sax teacher Kevin Russell. The “spirit guide” of his late father, a former Marine Corps musician, still feels close. And there’s Phoebe, the bus-seat-saving friend who lights up his days.\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSEE THE MUSIC HEAR THE LIGHT\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e offers a hopeful yet unflinching, anti-ableist portrait of a neurodivergent teen finding his way toward identity, agency, belonging, and hard-won joy.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books Prime","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45914103677119,"sku":"b20e2aa2-d737-4995-bf63-a7ebc153591c","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/7550\/7647\/files\/13ba186d059d9780719b2cb46821909d.jpg?v=1785054664","url":"https:\/\/books-prime.com\/products\/see-the-music-hear-the-light","provider":"Books Prime","version":"1.0","type":"link"}