No Ordinary Sound (Beforever: Melody Classic, 1)

I have recently gotten my seven year old daughter into American Girl historical books and we were excited for the unique setting and premise of this one. It surpassed expectations in a lot of ways. A lot of children's books about hard topics can end up reducing the story lines to simply a nonstop parade of heartbreaking facts and moments but this book managed an excellent balance. For all of the tragic, frightening, frustrating moments there are just as many moments showing a young girl in the 60's interacting with her friends, bonding with her grandmother, playing in gym, clashing and then making up with schoolmates, worried about normal family squabbles, getting her hair done, excited and nervous about an upcoming fun event. I was really impressed at how well balanced this book was and how much the author managed to include without the story ever feeling rushed. There was a wonderful chapter about a family bbq that my seven year old loves and goes back to reread all the time. The hard topics in this novel were handled extremely well. The author managed to grapple with the more insidious forms of discrimination in the North and it's differences from the South, concerns about fairness in policing and the law, the need for fair housing laws, voting rights, racist violence, etc without ever having the book reach a point where you felt like it was just a litany of heartbreak. The author interwove those issues very well and made those topics feel very real to my daughter and she learned a lot. There is a lot in here about music in the 60's too that my daughter loved. She asked me to show her the groups mentioned on YouTube (Ronettes, Marvelettes, Smokey Robinson) and really enjoyed reading about a specific song in the book and then getting to hear the music discussed. My daughter was absolutely devastated by the Addy books, she loved them and Addy is her favorite character, but they were gut wrenching for her and this book made her angry and sad at some points but it didn't tear her apart in the same way. So if you are one of the parents who is holding off on Addy please give this book a try. The only complaint my daughter had I did not allow to effect my star rating because it would not have been fair to the author but she complained about how she wished she could have seen Melody with braids since she actually only has straightened hair at one point in the book. It seems odd that she has braids basically throughout the entire thing but the only images of her available are of her with straight hair. My daughter wanted to see what Dwayne and Val and Yvonne and Lila looked like, and she got especially frustrated at the aforementioned family bbq chapter because she wanted to see them all dressed up like the Marvelettes. The lame two page melody's world informational section at the back was a big letdown compared to the older books she has for the other characters. I know it's undoubtedly cheaper for the company to make the books this way but its clearly a step down in quality.

After reading the less-than-inspiring Maryellen books, I was worried about this newest series of American Girl novel, which features an African-American family in Detroit in 1963. This is more like it! Melody and her family seem very real; the family dynamics are wonderful (there's a warm atmosphere that I love, especially between Melody and her sisters), and every family member has a role, unlike Maryellen's very superficial father. There are occasional "info dumps" for the modern child about the early 1960s attitude toward people of color, but they aren't too intrusive. This is what I was expecting from the Maryellen story, something that would make a 1950s Florida girl come alive, not a dumb kid painting the front door red. The story: Melody and her family live in Detroit. Her father works on an auto assembly line, her grandfather is a florist whom she helps occasionally (Melody loves to garden), and her grandmother teaches music. Melody has been asked to sing a solo at her church in the fall and must make the important decision of which song to sing over the summer. In the meantime, her older brother is trying to break into the Motown scene, and her cousin from Alabama is moving to Detroit with her family because of racial conditions in Alabama. I loved that the book addressed not only overt bigotry (when her cousins try to buy a house, they are told the house isn't available—although it is available to whites; when her sister tries to get a summer job at a bank, she are told there are no more jobs, although the bank manager tells a white girl positions are still open), but more subtle things: Melody and brother Dwayne go looking for new clothes in a department store and are promptly accused of shoplifting for just looking at things; Melody's cousin Val is surprised that black people can walk into the front door of the library in Detroit. I can't wait until the second volume is out, but now I really resent that Mattel has gone cheap on the books. I would have loved to have illustrated volumes of Melody's story. I would have loved three illustrated "Inside Melody's World" features in three books instead of a measly two pages: info about the faces of bigotry, the events in Birmingham, behind the scenes at Motown, the story of "Lift Every Voice and Sing." The new "Beforever" line is a cheat. Five stars for the book, minus ten stars for the history background kids are being cheated out of.

My 3rd grader and I finished reading the new American Girl book last night. I was wary. I've been a fan of the historical books for the most part, but the overhaul and rebranding of the historical line recently into this BeForever line didn't sit well with me. I will admit, though, that I was actually incredibly impressed. They don't do six books per girl anymore, which is unfortunate. But this was a meaty book, not like the original ones that were pretty simple and short. 18 chapters, no pictures, and it tackled several deep aspects of the Civil Rights Movement. It showed how that played out differently in both Birmingham and Detroit, including how the main characters in Detroit were affected by a very famous traumatic event in Birmingham (don't want to spoil it since it's towards the end of the book and has a major impact), where they still had connections. And I appreciate that American Girl actually respects their target age group enough to know that they can handle difficult topics like that. I will give two complaints, though both are not deal breakers at all. First of all, hair. It's a big deal that the college aged sister decides to maintain a natural afro and they mention that the girls have always kept their hair braided. But for the big event at the end, Melody gets it straightened. That's not such a big deal, but it bugs me that this is the picture on the cover and this is how the doll's hair is styled, when that wasn't really how she normally wore it. And my other complaint is just that I was missing the historical information in the back of the book. The old ones each had several pages of info with lots of pictures. This just had two pages of fairly generic, picture-free info. No reason that had to be trimmed down. I really do recommend it, though, and I recommend reading along with your kids.

I started reading this book aloud with my 7 year old and my 5 year old simply because we are so excited about another African American historical doll release from Ag. WOW WOW WOW. I have been so amazed by this story. The historical information alone has sparked my children to ask questions and provided a way for us to have a dialogue about the injustices faced yesterday and today by Melody and people that share her ancestry. At first I thought the stories may be too much above their comprehension level, but I have been wrong. The writer has written this story in such a way that it is easy for them to understand AND intriguing for me! That's a win for us both. As we approach Black History Month...and there after, I think this is a story that all children need to read. I'm excited to go on Melody's journey with my daughter. Thanks AG for having a character that reflects me, my daughter, and many of our experiences in America.

I got this for my 9yo daughter. She said it was a Fun and entertaining story - easy read for her. I poked and read a few pages and I liked the prose and level of vocabulary. Definitely suggest for girls into history.

I have been a fan of American Girl for over 20 years, and the stories keep getting better. This is a good story about Melody, an African American girl growing up in the 1960s. It's also a story with a lesson, about finding your voice. If you like stories about how girls lived in the past, or are a fan of the 1960s decade, this book should be bought.

Wonderful book; significant time in history. Just in time for Black History Month! So glad American Girl created this important civil rights storyline for girls and boys of all ages! As “the mom”, I enjoyed it just as much as the children. Melody is an inspiration for all! Much research, love, and sweat went into this series. Thank you American Girl!

We are a homeschool family, my kids love these books and the Melody movie. Great introduction to this time period. For some kids, perhaps age 9-10+.