Emily's Piano

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

Although no one had played the piano in years, Emily was sad when her
family moved and it had to be sold. The piano had been her favourite
place to read or daydream and it reminded her of happier times. Now her
grandmother lives in a nursing home, her mother is depressed and
distracted, and her father is never home. Her parents no longer share a
bed, and her father is in love with a woman at work. There is no hope
for the family now, and her father moves out of the apartment. Emily
connects the loss of the piano with the loss of happiness in her family,
and she decides to search for it. Before long she finds out that a
convent bought it for a nun who gives music lessons. When Emily and her
mother go to visit the nun, the nun begins to play the piano for them.
The instrument does prove to be happiness in a box, as both Emily and
her mother find music and happiness again.

Emily narrates the story of her family’s collapse with wisdom and
candour beyond her years. She says “grown-ups think I don’t
understand anything. They’re wrong. I watch soap operas just like
everyone else. What’s more, I have hypersensitive ears and piercing
eyes.” The straightforward style of Emily’s narration is direct and
honest, and at the same time beautiful, sensitive, and touching. The
book is delightfully illustrated with whimsical drawings that complement
the artistic sensibility that is at this story’s core. Highly
recommended.