Kids into Books: Jellybean

Author: Tessa Duder

Age: 9-12 years

Publisher: Puffin, $12.95


Coming in from school one afternoon in a concert week, Geraldine hears the cello being not so much played, as worked at.

She knows exactly what she will see as she walks down the creaking hallway towards the living-room: her mother with the golden cello lying against her shoulder, eyes fixed on the music stand, her long dark hair tangled and half over her face, and the cello bow dancing across the strings.

As she chews her gingernuts while waiting in the doorway for a break in the music, she recognises one phrase being played again and again.

* Tomorrow: "God help me, Richard Strauss."