Echoes from the Square

Sheree Haughian, a former teacher-librarian with the Dufferin County
Board of Education, is an editor with Gage Educational Publishing and
the author of The Private Journal of Day Applepenny, Prisoner.

Nero fiddling while Rome burns is a standard image of decadence and
futility. Vedran Smailovic playing his cello for 22 days in a ruined
square in Sarajevo to commemorate victims of a horrific bomb blast is an
image of a completely different sort. The musician’s spirited act is
the inspiration for Echoes from the Square.

Alen, a sensitive boy, who likes nothing so much as riding his bicycle
through the square on his way to violin class, is devastated when a
state of siege grips his lovely city. Some of his friends have been
killed, the schools are closed, and he must wait in line to obtain
drinking water for his family. One day he is astonished to discover a
great cellist performing in the streets. Smailovic’s refusal to give
in to fear and despair helps Alen find the courage to remember happier
days, and to carry on with his own musical aspirations.

The story of Alen is complemented by Deryk Houston’s dramatic
paintings. Strong primary colors dominate the scenes from Sarajevo; skin
tones in shades of blue may jar the reader’s eye, but the hues are
vivid reminders that Alen and everyone he meets have been living through
shocking times. At one point, the black print of the text is juxtaposed
with a pinkish, italicized font used to relate Smailovic’s exact
words. The result is unnecessarily theatrical in a book that requires no
special effects to convey its powerful message: art can bring enduring
hope to a shattered world. Recommended.