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Book Summary and Reviews of The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe

The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • Published:
  • Feb 2014, 400 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

For sixteen years, Daisy has been good. A good daughter, helping out with her autistic younger brother uncomplainingly. A good friend, even when her best friend makes her feel like a third wheel. When her parents announce they're sending her brother to an institution - without consulting her - Daisy's furious, and decides the best way to be a good sister is to start being bad.  She quits jazz band and orchestra, slacks in school, and falls for bad-boy Dave. 

But one person won't let Daisy forget who she used to be: Irish exchange student and brilliant musician Cal.  Does she want the bad boy or the prodigy?  Should she side with her parents or protect her brother?  How do you know when to hold on and when - and how - to let go? 

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. This painfully honest portrait of a family in crisis raises questions about love, responsibility, and self-sacrifice as it moves gracefully to a difficult but realistic resolution. Ages 12–up." - Publishers Weekly

"An intriguing medley of music, teen romance, high school life and serious family issues." - Kirkus

"Sharp, painful emotions come alive in flowing verse. Long after the notes fade, this book won't let you go." - Corrine Jackson, author of If I Lie

This information about The Sound of Letting Go was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Anonymous :)

FAVORITE BOOK EVER!!!
This book is so good!!! I've read it a total 7 times!! Totally reccomend this book!!!!!

mc

almost mediocre
Now, I didn't have much of a problem with the plot of this book. It was ok. The main character daisy, however, was simply ridiculous. Firstly, she acted like a five-year-old for most of the book. For example, blowing up at her best friends' boyfriend for something he did in the second grade (they're currently juniors in high school.)
Also, SHE WAS SO ANNOYING. "Oh, this bad boy likes me and I'm pubescent so I'm going to paint my nails black and have khol-lined eyes and wear black because I'm moody." Pretty much the entire character arc.
Thirdly, she compared her autistic brother's violent demeanor to a white slaveholder from before the civil war. She also compared herself and her family to SLAVES. I almost put down the book after reading that but I wanted to make an official book review so I kept reading.

Anyway, don't read this book.

The Reader

Frustrating.
If the character wasn't so narcissistic and selfish I wouldn't have much of a problem with this book, but my frustrations with the main character outweighed my neutral opinion on the plot. I don't recommend.

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Author Information

Stasia Ward Kehoe

Stasia Ward Kehoe grew up performing on stages from New Hampshire to Washington, DC. She holds a BA in English from GeorgetownUniversity and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. She now lives in western Washington State with her husband and four sons. Stasia's novels include Audition and The Sound of Letting Go.

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