Sometimes all you need to do PUB JOANNE ROSSMASSLER FRITZ is keep quiet 6/21 and listen. And you will hear deep inside yourself FRITZ the tiny whisper of truth. When twelve-year-old Maddie’s older brother vanishes from his college campus, her carefully ordered world falls apart. Maddie needs to know: Was DEBUT Strum unhappy? Were the arguments with their dad getting worse? Or is NOVEL Strum’s disappearance related to his obsession with the climate crisis . IN VERSE As Maddie tries to solve the mystery, painful family secrets come to light. Maybe her parents aren’t who she thought they were. Maybe her nervous thoughts and compulsive counting mean she needs help. And maybe finding Strum won’t solve everything. But she knows he’s out there, and she has to try. This moving debut novel in verse addresses some of the most compelling issues of today’s youth—climate change, intergenerational discourse, and anxiety—while leaving the reader with hope and strength. JOANNE ROSSMASSLER FRITZ developed her love of children’s books by working in a school library, the independent bookstore Chester County Book and Music Company, and at a publishing company. She and her husband live outside West Chester, Pennsylvania. MARKETING AND EVERYWHERE BLUE PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN Publication Date: 6/1/21 . Ages 8–12 Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8234-4862-3 . National Media Campaign $17.99.5½ x 8¼ .256 pages .Blogger Outreach with Climate Change E-book ISBN: 978-0-8234-5060-2 and Mental Health Targeted Pitches UNCORRECTED PROOF.NOT FOR SALE .Trade Story Pitch Please check publication information and quotations against the published Select Local Author Appearances . edition. Price, page count, and .Social Media Campaign publication date are subject to change without notice. For more information, .Parenting Blogger Advertising Campaign please contact Sara DiSalvo at [email protected] .Promote at National School and Library Conventions Jacket art by Elena Megalos .National Poetry Month Promotion .Educator’s Guide 50 Broad Street, #301 . New York, NY 10004 HolidayHouse.com @HolidayHouseBks ADVANCE READER’S COPY—NOT FOR SALE everywhere blue_arc_cvr_f.indd 1 12/2/20 1:11 PM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 JOANNE ROSSMASSLER FRITZ 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 S31 NEW YORK N32 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd i 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM Copyright © 2021 by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz All Rights Reserved HOLIDAY HOUSE is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Printed and bound in TK at Maple Press, York, PA, USA. www.holidayhouse.com First Edition 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data TK Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd ii 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 FOR MY MOTHER, 09 10 AND IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 S31 N32 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd iii 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Part One 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 S31 N32 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd v 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM 01 DIMINUENDO 02 03 November 04 05 November pulls me down. 06 Like a diminuendo in music, 07 gradually dying away. 08 Darkness falls too early 09 and the chill creeps in. 10 11 Before dusk, 12 13 before we learn the truth 14 about my brother, 15 16 this day plays out 17 like any ordinary day, 18 a symphony of sameness. 19 20 Just the way I like it. 21 22 At 2:46 that afternoon 23 I duck out the main doors 24 of Margaret Murie Middle School, 25 frowning as I avoid 26 the straggly line of kids 27 waiting for buses. 28 Glad I’m not in that line today. 29 Emma waves. “Bye, Maddie!” 30 I wave back with a grin. S31 N32 1 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd 1 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM 01 Fridays mean oboe lessons. 02 Gripping my instrument case 03 and hunching my shoulders 04 against the cold, 05 I walk four blocks west 06 to my music teacher’s house. 07 08 I love walking. 09 If I lived in the city, 10 instead of boring old Bennett Corners, 11 I’d walk everywhere. Especially 12 the Kimmel Center, for concerts. 13 But I’m only twelve. 14 It’ll be years before I can move 15 to Philadelphia. 16 17 As I walk up Mr. Rimondi’s driveway, 18 I count my steps. 19 Eleven. An odd number 20 is not a good number. 21 Something will go wrong. 22 23 I could add an extra step, 24 a tiny one, 25 but that would be cheating. 26 Dread fills my chest like cold sludge. 27 This will not be a good lesson. 28 29 Crushed leaves 30 rotting against the stoop 31S smell like the turkey feather 32N I use to clean the saliva 2 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd 2 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM from my oboe, 01 especially when too much spit 02 clots the feathery tips together 03 into a sodden lump. 04 The leaves smell of mold and sadness 05 and leftover rain. 06 07 They smell of 08 November. 09 10 11 12 My Real Name 13 14 “You’re late,” Mr. Rimondi says. 15 16 But he smiles his crooked smile 17 so I know he’s only kidding. 18 I glance at the big clock on the wall 19 above the music stand, 20 with the red second hand 21 sweeping past the two, 22 and smile back. 23 If I can make him laugh, 24 maybe 25 it will still be a good lesson. 26 27 “Twelve seconds. Not that late.” 28 29 He throws his head back and laughs, 30 a bright, brassy sound like trumpets. S31 “Madrigal, you could be a metronome. N32 3 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd 3 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM 01 You’re so precise.” He wipes his eyes 02 with a handkerchief, chuckles some more. 03 04 Mr. Rimondi is the only one who uses 05 my real name. 06 Everyone else calls me Maddie, 07 except Aria calls me Mad 08 and Strum calls me M. 09 They both hate the musical names 10 our parents gave us. 11 12 But I like them. 13 They define us as a family, 14 even if sometimes 15 there is dissonance. 16 17 18 19 My Oboe 20 21 While my reed soaks 22 in a small cup of warm water, 23 I assemble my oboe, 24 gently screwing in each piece 25 in the right order. 26 27 Order is good. 28 Order is calming. 29 Just like even numbers. 30 Order helps me to 31S stop thinking bad thoughts. 32N About me throwing up. 4 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd 4 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM People bleeding. 01 Or someone dying. 02 03 The last thing to be inserted is my reed. 04 It tastes earthy, 05 the way fallen leaves smell 06 before they get wet. 07 Oboe reeds are fragile. 08 Twin pieces of cane carved out 09 and pressed together. 10 11 My best friend, Emma, plays the clarinet, 12 which uses a wider single reed, 13 sturdier and less breakable. 14 Clarinets also sound different— 15 deeper and mellower. 16 17 Oboes sound a lot like ducks. 18 That was why Prokofiev 19 chose the oboe to represent a duck 20 in Peter and the Wolf. 21 22 23 Peter and the Wolf 24 25 There is an oboe solo 26 in Peter and the Wolf 27 that’s so beautiful 28 it makes my throat burn. 29 30 That solo reminds me of the time S31 Daddy took us N32 5 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd 5 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM 01 to see Peter and the Wolf, 02 performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, 03 when I was seven. 04 05 We sat in the second tier, 06 the three of us bookended 07 by Maman and Daddy. 08 We were all riveted. 09 10 Well, Strum and I, anyway. 11 12 Aria was eleven. 13 She yawned a big fake yawn, 14 pretending to be bored. 15 Probably hoping Strum would 16 agree with her. 17 18 When the oboist played the duck’s theme, 19 I tugged Strum’s arm. “Listen,” I whispered. 20 “Isn’t it beautiful?” 21 22 Strum was fourteen then. 23 He didn’t talk to me much. 24 But that evening, 25 Strum leaned over, 26 blue eyes wide open. 27 “You’re right. 28 It makes my body 29 hum. And it feels like . 30 like coming home.” 31S 32N 6 Rossmassler_i-vi_1-250-r0mb.indd 6 10/23/20 5:13:10 PM I’m only the second oboe 01 but I want to play that solo 02 in the school orchestra’s 03 winter concert, 04 which is three months away. 05 I’ll need to work hard 06 to prove I’m good enough. 07 08 09 10 Perfect 11 12 Today’s lesson is “Morning Mood” 13 from Peer Gynt Suites 14 by Edvard Grieg.