A Review of The Color of Sound by Emily Barth Isler for Read Your World 2025

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THE COLOR OF SOUND

Written by Emily Barth Isler

(CarolRhoda Books; $19.99, Ages 11-14)

 

 

 

 

★Starred Review – Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal

REVIEW:

In the opening paragraph of Emily Barth Isler’s The Color of Sound, readers meet 12-year-old Rosie, a child prodigy who is a violin virtuoso. They’ll also be rewarded with a fascinating and compelling read that hits all the right notes.

Rosie, it seems, has gone on strike. That hooked me immediately. I had to understand why she was refusing to practice her instrument or attend a prestigious music summer camp. Part of Rosie’s protest is a direct result of a fight she had with her best friend Julianne. Julianne could no longer play second fiddle to Rosie’s instrument, rehearsals, trips away, and frequent cancellations, including Julianne’s important birthday sleepover. However, the major reason Rosie goes on strike is to take time to find out all she has missed and to learn who she is rather than who her mother seems to be dictating she should be. “How can you love someone so much and also feel so angry at them?” Even though Rosie may have loved many things about the violin the loneliness accompanying the prodigy lifestyle was taking its toll on her. She feels her parents, especially her mother, can’t see her or hear her beyond their own visions, a strong theme woven into this moving novel. The exploration of the mother-daughter dynamic and intergenerational trauma, in this case, the Holocaust, are also themes that particularly resonated with me.

Readers also find out early on that Rosie, like the author Isler, has synesthesia, a neurodivergence that causes her to see music in colors. But Rosie does not divulge this to anyone. Not her parents. Not to Julianne. She knew instinctively it was something she had to hide … ” … a painting could be a symphony … a song can be a picture.” Colors and rich language unfurl on the pages and add meaning to Rosie’s self-exploration journey. “What if there’s a whole other range of colors and sounds I’m only beginning to hear?”

After the fallout with Julianne, Rosie feels more isolated than ever for someone her age. The violin is her only friend. Or is it? Isler does a great job of making readers wonder if perhaps the violin isn’t really as much of her friend as one might be led to believe. Choosing to bail on music camp, Rosie now has to join her mother to spend six weeks with her grandparents who she barely knows. Will time spent with these relatives in Connecticut, with whom she is neither close geographically nor emotionally, help Rosie grow as a person, and as a family member?

Readers get a clue as to the tone of each chapter with musical terminology as clever subheadings, mainly in Italian, such as prima vista, pianissimo, and staccato. I found myself looking out for examples of these in different character’s actions. While visiting for the summer, Rosie slowly gets to know her Grandpa Jack and her ailing Grandma Florence, who has Alzheimer’s and is nearing the end of her life. I liked these characters more than Rosie’s mother whose strictness felt OTT at times. They provided an entré to Rosie’s heritage that she did not know much about. It’s always seemed to be off-limits, part of some family secrets that Rosie needed to explore. Uncovering these secrets, likely written into her DNA, will yield clues as to why she is who she is.

Being away from her all-consuming violin lessons brings joy into Rosie’s life in unexpected ways and places. These scenes are some of my favorite parts of the book, feel-good moments that give us hope that Rosie can find a healthy way forward in her life. She befriends some older high-school students in an improv class at the local library, and she also enters a mysterious time-travel loop in the shed on her grandparents’ property. I don’t want to give this part away but suffice it to say that Rosie’s encounters in the shed may actually effect a positive change in her life. And, as Rosie spends quality time with her grandparents and appreciates the family history that slowly reveals itself, she experiences how connections to the past become life-affirming for her present. If Rosie’s mother (and her father) can learn to see Rosie for who she is and wants to be, then there’s a good chance that Rosie can break free from the restrictions and commitments playing the violin has represented and forge a more meaningful bond with her family.

• Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

 

 

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