Review by Ashlyn Mather
Christy Ottaviano Books, 2023
256 pages, Hardcover, , 9780316333726
Middle Grade, Ages 8-12
Fiction
Prelude: an introductory piece of music
Ba-ba always told me I was a miracle. Because, technically, I was. His doctor had said it was impossible for him and Mom to have children due to his cancer treatments. I wasn’t supposed to exist. He was never supposed to meet me. Most of the time, I felt like a miracle because I could figure out Ba-ba’s mood and help him feel better. But sometimes I had a deep-down feeling that Ba-ba was the actual miracle.
How do you maintain hope when the world around you is crumbling? When beautiful melodies that used to float effortlessly through the air now falter in disharmony? And how do you re-discover the “Tai-chi strength” (as Amie says) within you when you feel weak? Miracle is set in Arizona and follows 11-year-old Amie’s path to healing after loss. Amie loves music, her best friends Bella and Rio, her pregnant music teacher Ms. Sato, and above all her father (Ba-ba), who has battled cancer for many years. Hearing his “miracle” daughter play the violin was her father’s catharsis, but, in Amie’s eyes she “was simply his praise song” (pg. 15).
However, when her father passes away on Thanksgiving morning, Amie feels like no one’s miracle. Her grief, understandably, strikes hard, and as the depression of her loss grows, her musical “sound” begins to fade. To top it off, Amie has never felt connected to her mother, and their tension only increases after her father’s death. However, with the encouragement of her music teacher Ms. Sato, Amie decides to try and create a new harmony between herself and her mother, despite her mother seemingly wanting to erase Ba-ba from their lives.
Miracle is an easy to follow, well-paced book. As someone who has experienced loss in my life, I found the story to be very relatable and it accurately portrayed the feelings and stages of grief. Through Amie’s tears and frustration, I found myself remembering my own feelings of grief that I have experienced. However, there is a feeling of magic in the book as well – the magic of music that will surely lift readers spirits. Music can transcend space and time, captivating audiences and allowing the trials of everyday life to disappear.
Karen S. Chow’s expert characterizations flow and the climax in Miracle is both beautiful and coherent, giving readers the sense of truthfulness of life’s circumstances, while at the same time creating a story that is not too heavy or bogged down by traumatic material. There may be controversy over whether or not a story surrounding death and trauma is good for children to read. But, in my opinion, if written correctly by tying in themes of love, friendship, and strength throughout the book, as Chow does, children will benefit from reading the type of material written in Miracle and realize that they are not alone.
Further, Miracle gives children a space where they can either relate to or understand others’ grief and empathy by emphasizing real emotions and how our passions can help restore our happiness. For Amie, by feeling the warmth of those around her, her musical “sound” slowly returns and music once again radiates from her. Just maybe, she thinks, “technique and talent [aren’t] what made music harmonious. It [is] something else. Passion and love. Hope and feeling. A touch of magic” (pg. 259).
The whole book is reminiscent of a music lesson, using simple music terms and definitions as chapter headings with a glossary of musical terms listed at the back of the book. Written in the first person, this book allows readers to be a part of Amie’s emotional journey. Music flows through the words on the pages like the wind through a willow tree, making readers hang on every word. While this book pulls on heart strings, it is a strong reminder that the magic of music can help heal an injured heart and that we always have a Tai-chi strength within us to move forward. As her Ba-ba would likely agree, Amie’s musical talent is not what makes her a miracle, but rather the beauty, love, and resilience that shines through her.
Ashlyn Mather (She/Her/Hers) is in the Masters of Children’s Literature program (MACL) at UBC. She earned her undergraduate degree in Child Development with a minor in American Sign Language and Special Populations from Cal Poly Humboldt in California. During and after graduation she worked as an infant, toddler, and preschool teacher at Daycare Centers and as a nanny before moving to BC for her Masters. Her passions include, writing, reading, swing dancing, theater, and being outdoors in nature.
YOUNG ADULTING 