Baby Tumbleweed and Little Sparrow are small when they are born. Their fathers are not sure if the babies will grow up to be big and strong. Their mothers reassure them all that they will grow. Tiny Tumbleweed grows and roots herself. She's not as big as her brothers and sisters but she's okay. Little Sparrow also grows, just not as big as his siblings, but his father teaches him how to strengthen his wings and legs. One day he is out when a storm arrives. He sees Tiny Tumbleweed below him. Can he make it to her for shelter before the storm hurts him? Can she help him?

I liked this story. I loved the illustrations. They are gorgeous. I liked that Tiny Tumbleweed and Little Sparrow both grew up under similar circumstances. I also appreciated that they were able to do what they needed to do.

I liked the fun facts about tumbleweeds and sparrows at the end of the book as well as the questions about the book. This is good for toddlers and early readers. It is designed for third graders but your 4-8 year old will enjoy it.

Tumen wants to go home so Jack and his crew take him back where they are greeted by his family and friends. Throwing a celebration dinner and story telling cause Jack and his crew to dream of the City of Gold. Waking the next day there are persona non gratis because the amulet leading to the City of Gold is missing and Tumen's great-grandfather is ill. Knowing they did not steal the amulet leads Jack and crew to search the island where a small doll is found with the mark of Madame Minuit upon it. Now they must sail to New Orleans and find Madame and retrieve the amulet.

I enjoyed this story. It starts a little slow but once they hit New Orleans it gets exciting. We find out about Madame Minuit and more about the amulet. We also learn more about Arabella. The ending sets up their next adventure (I hope) and I am ready for it.

I heard this book being discussed in an on-line book festival and it sounded fascinating. (...so I guess on-line festivals do work for disseminating new titles.)
The premise of the book appealed to me: one father with two wives and two similarly aged daughters, only one of whom was aware the other existed. The families are both coloured, which is topical right now, although the current movement had not started when my book group made the book choice.

The first half of the book is narrated by Dana. She knows she has a sister and that her father spends most of the week with his 'other' family. She and her mother go spying on Chaurisse and her mother and accept that they are the secret family. They live in the same town but cannot attend the same school - and Chaurisse always get first pick.
The second half is narrated by Chaurisse, who eventually meets up with Dana and is impressed by her beauty and confidence, but mystified by her secrecy.

Although things are obviously going to come to a head eventually, I thought the run-up to this was quite slow. There is a lot of back-story, covering both families and several sets of grandparents; it's not a book that you can easily put down and come back to.

Having recently finished An American Marriage by the same author, I wasn't so impressed with the ending of Silver Sparrow. I gave An American Marriage 4 stars, but the disappointing ending dropped Silver Sparrow to 3.5 for me.

In no particular order, books (of all genres, except for artist biographies)* that I love where music plays an important role:

Thomas Mann: Dr. Faustus

Mann's gut-punch take on Faustian bargains; in this instance, by a composer who pays the price of syphilis-induced madness for a few years of success -- and whose deal with the devil simultaneously symbolizes that of the German people with Adolf Hitler.

Peter Shaffer: Amadeus

The play that reached an even wider audience when adapted for the screen by Miloš Forman: all about the punk rock genius of classical music and his rival, the "patron saint of mediocrity", Antonio Salieri.

Martin Goldsmith: The Inextinguishable Symphony

Goldsmith's biography of his musician parents (and their families), who met in Nazi Germany and, after much hardship, eventually managed to emigrate to the U.S. and establish a new life for themselves and their children there.

Colum McCann: Dancer

McCann's novelized biography of Rudolf Nureyev -- from the time before McCann moved to the U.S. and went all politically correct.  Lyrical, muscular and visually powerful prose to match the art of its protagonist.

Sharon Maas: Speech of Angels

The story of a musically gifted orphan who is taken to Europe from the streets of Bombay and has to find out who she is (Indian, European or ...?) and what exactly music means to her life. 

Ellis Peters: The Sanctuary Sparrow

A young musician takes sanctuary in the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul after having falsely been accused of murder, and it is up to Brother Cadfael to find out what really happened.

Peter Grainger: An Accidental Death

Music may not exactly be central to the mystery, but blues music is definitely key to the protagonist's (D.C. Smith's) personality.

Anne Rice: Cry to Heaven and Violin

Cry to Heaven, a novel set in the world of the baroque castrati, just might be the best thing Rice ever wrote (when she was still listening to her editors).  Violin was the last book of hers that I liked; it occasionally borders on the melodramatic, but the translation of the (autobiographically-based) mental anguish of losing a loved one into music is by and large very well done.

... and Ngaio Marsh's mysteries set either in the world of opera or otherwise involving (performances set to) music:

     * Overture to Death

     * Death and the Dancing Footman

     * Off With His Head (aka Death of a Fool)

     * Photo Finish

Honorary mention to two movies (and screenplays) focusing on music:

     * Jane Campion: Piano

     * Andrée Corbiau: Farinelli

... and to the movies which I discovered and / or love twice as much solely because Mark Knopfler (fomerly of Dire Straits) wrote the score:

     * Local Hero

     * The Princess Bride

     * Cal

_______________

* If I'd include artist and composer biographies, this list would be endless.

(Task: Music is an important part of a Kwanzaa celebration.  Which is / are your favorite book(s) where music plays an important role in the plot?)

Book source ~ NetGalley

Vanessa is the fastest werewolf in her territory. She’s a bit too dominant for the pack’s comfort, but she tries really hard to be properly submissive around their pack leader, Jordan. Oh, and she has allergies. Lots of them. When she runs across a cat while in wolf form it about kills her. Fortunately, Dane the Park Ranger finds her and tucks her safely in a cage in his basement. When she wakes up in the morning in human form she’s surprised to be alive. And more surprised she’s on a concrete floor in a cage. However, no one is more surprised than Dane who thought he was saving a wolf and ended up with a beautiful naked woman in his cage. What the hell?

While bad shit is going down in their territory, Vanessa scent matches with Dane, a human. This is bad. But not as bad as werewolves disappearing then reappearing in pieces. The plot isn’t horrible and the characters are okay, but the execution just seems to lack. I have to admit that the best part about the story is Vanessa and her allergies. She’s allergic to so much stuff that it should be ridiculous if I didn’t know people who are allergic to so many things that seem innocuous. I got tired of the constant he’s mine/she’s mine crap and how good they smelled to each other. I got it the 1st dozen times. Repetition is not your friend. Overall, it’s an okay story.