Beethoven in Paradise

Set in a trailer park called Paradise "You're just wasting your God-given talents if you don't get yourself something besides a little ole harmonica to play." Wylene made it sound so easy. Martin had always like music -- liked to listen to it, liked to make up tunes in his head. But all he had to do was say the word "piano" to his father and all hell would break loose. His father thought music was for sissies, and was always mad at Martin for not being good at baseball. But with a lot of help from his friends Wylene and Sybil and his grandmother, Hazeline, Martin learns that, although he can't change his father, he can learn to stick up for himself. With humor, pathos, and a colorful cast of offbeat characters, Barbara O'Connor shows that there's room for genius wherever there's a place for compassion-- even in Paradise.

Barbara O'Connor is the author of several nonfiction books for young readers. She grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and now lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

"Martin. . .is musically talented and lives in a trailer park called Paradise. His macho father thinks that music is for wimps and that real boys play baseball." --School Library Journal

"For every child who never wanted to play sports, a kindred spirit. . .Captures a young boy's heart and holds it out as a gift." --Pointer, Kirkus Reviews