Muffled

August 31, 2020
With the start of fifth grade comes new responsibilities for 10-year-old Amelia: she is allowed to walk to school and visit the Boston Public Library alone, but she also has to give up the noise-canceling headphones that she previously relied upon to manage her noise sensitivity. On the first day of school, Amelia’s father, who has the same sensitivity, gives her a pair of fluffy purple earmuffs to ease the transition. Used in conjunction with the mental math she does as a coping mechanism, the earmuffs help to keep classroom and city noise at “five bars out of ten,” but frustrate her mother and have an alienating effect in the classroom. As the class begins music lessons, Amelia struggles to settle on an instrument and retreats into the world of books until a solo library trip inspires her to pick up the trombone, and she embarks on a new friendship with fellow trombonist Madge. Gennari (My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer) effectively works Amelia’s experience onto nearly every page (“each noise bounces around the walls of my head like a rubber ball”), making each of her hard-won victories resonate powerfully. A gentle portrait of a child learning to navigate her world. Ages 8–12. Agent: Andrea Cascardi, Transatlantic Agency.

October 1, 2020

Gr 4-6- Amelia, a 10-year-old white girl, deals with noise sensitivity. Constantly teased by other kids, Amelia finds sole companionship in her fish, Finway, and in books. Her parents, teacher, and counselor want her to stop using her beloved noise-cancelling headphones because of her difficulty making friends. When Amelia is forced out of her comfort zone by taking a music class, she befriends a loud classmate who also learns to accept her. While a middle-grade reader who enjoys realistic fiction may appreciate this book, there are problematic elements. The author's note makes it clear that this is not #OwnVoices, and the text is based on Gennari's conversations with practitioners and online research. Amelia's disability is not named, and the word "disability" is never used. When a woman accosts Amelia on the train and says that she should get treatment for her "autism," Amelia's mother angrily denies that she is autistic, even though her noise sensitivity and love of numbers and trains implies that she could be. Her school's encouragement of ditching the noise-cancelling headphones, and requirement of taking a music class, also serves to dismiss Amelia's condition and deny her necessary accommodations. Amelia's noise sensitivity is also equated with new friend Madge's loudness as a "difference" that each accommodates. The only reference to a character's identity is a German-speaking grandmother, "Oma." VERDICT A generic and overly euphemistic handling of a character with noise sensitivity; not recommended. Some strong #OwnVoices alternatives include Sarah Kapit's Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! and Christina Collins's After Zero.-Rebecca Fitzgerald, Harrison P.L., NY

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