music

A young girl spends song-filled summers with her music-loving grandmother in the Philippines, but when her beloved Lola starts slipping into silence and stillness, the girl helps her grandmother hold on with music and the joyful memories the songs bring.

A boy sets off with his flute, his stuffed bear, and a rum-pum-pum, and making his way through the town and woods, he is joined by dancing and singing children and animals, one by one.

When their beloved Jazz Lab teacher is let go due to budget cuts, his students hatch a plan to save their class, becoming an unlikely band of crusaders whose quest turns into something bigger than they ever could have imagined.

After a tragedy a young boy discovers a connection between music and colors that helps guide him and gives him comfort in times of darkness.

"Words burn bright in this joyful celebration of rap, creativity, and self-expression. . . Starting with beatboxes and fingersnaps, an exuberant narrator introduces kids in his community to the powerful possibilities of rap, from turning 'a simple phrase/into imagery that soars' to proclaiming, 'this is a voice that represents me!' As Khodi Dill's rhymes heat up, the diverse crew of kids . . . gain self-confidence and a sense of freedom"--Provided by publisher.

"Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional musician. Not his mother, who thinks he should get a real job, not the fact that he can't afford a high-caliber violin, not the racism inherent in the classical music world. And when he makes the startling discovery that his great-grandfather's fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, his star begins to rise. Then with the international Tchaikovsky Competition--the Olympics of classical music--fast approaching, his prized family heirloom is stolen. Ray is determined to get it back. But now his family and the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray's great-grandfather are each claiming that the violin belongs to them. With the odds stacked against him and the pressure mounting, will Ray ever see his beloved violin again?"--Provided by publisher.

"How does time shape consciousness, and consciousness, time? Do we live in time, or does time live in us? And how does music, with its patterns of rhythm and harmony, inform our experience of time? 'Uncommon Measure' . . . explores these questions from the perspective of a young Korean American who dedicated herself to perfecting her art until, crippled by performance anxiety, she was forced to give up her dreams of becoming a career solo violinist. Anchoring her narrative in illuminating research in neuroscience and theories of quantum physics, Hodges traces her own passage through model-minority expectations and examines her immigrant mother's encounters with racism to come to terms with the meaning of a life in music. The lessons she learns enable her to move from anxiety toward acceptance, from rote re-creation toward the freedom of improvisation"--Provided by publisher.

Nickelodeon television star Ariana Grande gave the entertainment world its biggest jolt in years when her single The Way rolled out in March 2013. The stunning 3-minute and 46-second vocal masterpiece generated comparisons to the great Mariah Carey while announcing the twenty-year-old's arrival as a massive game-changer in the music industry. Music fans worldwide devoured the hit-a creative meshing of rhythm and blues and pop performed with rapper Mac Miller-which was roundly applauded by music critics everywhere. It debuted at No. 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 list, peaked at No. 9, and rocketed to the top spot on iTunes within seven hours of its release. Grande also became the first lead female artist to crack the Top 10 with her first Hot 100 appearance since Yael Naim back in 2008. The Way sold more than 120,000 digital downloads within the first 48 hours of its release, and with more than 215,000 copies sold in its opening week it nailed down the fourth-largest first-week sales figure of 2013, trailing only Katy Perry's Roar, Justin Timberlake's Suit & Tie, and One Direction's Best Song Ever. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has also certified it triple platinum. For the tireless, hard-working Grande, the hit put an exclamation point on countless hours of grinding long after the sun had set. While co-starring on the Nickelodeon cable TV network program Sam & Cat, she spent her time away from the production set in the recording studio piecing together the dozen songs that would eventually comprise her first album Yours Truly, which debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The Way, the eighth track on the album, not only ignited her career but also put her in high demand. Near the end of May 2013 she appeared on popular daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show and delivered her first national performance of the song, and soon after appeared on the show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She joined Justin Bieber for three shows on his Believe Tour and then staged her own 11-city tour she dubbed The Listening Sessions for the intimate venues she chose.