Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner (English) Hardcover Book

Description: Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner Twelve-year-old Lou Montgomerys life has been centered on her mothers terrifying plan to make her a singing star, but a crisis reveals Lous sensory processing disorder and people determined to help her address it. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From the author of the acclaimed Roll with It comes a moving novel about a girl with a sensory processing disorder who has to find her own voice after her whole world turns upside down.Lou Montgomery has the voice of an angel, or so her mother tells her and anyone else who will listen. But Lou can only hear the fear in her own voice. Shes never liked crowds or loud noises or even high fives; in fact, shes terrified of them, which makes her pretty sure theres something wrong with her. When Lou crashes their pickup on a dark and snowy road, child services separate the mother-daughter duo. Now she has to start all over again at a fancy private school far away from anything shes ever known. With help from an outgoing new friend, her aunt and uncle, and the school counselor, she begins to see things differently. A sensory processing disorder isnt something to be ashamed of, and music might just be the thing that saves Lou—and maybe her mom, too. Author Biography Jamie Sumner is the author of Roll with It, Time to Roll, Rolling On, Tune It Out, One Kids Trash, The Summer of June, Maid for It, Deep Water, and Please Pay Attention. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. She loves stories that celebrate the grit and beauty in all kids. She is also the mother of a son with cerebral palsy and has written extensively about parenting a child with special needs. She and her family live in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit her at Jamie-Sumner.com. Review * "Her voice alternately wry, naïve, and wise beyond her years, Lou confronts sensory overload, self-consciousness, and her simultaneous love for and anger toward her mother in poetic, poignant prose. . . A vivid, sensitive exploration of invisible disability, family bonds, and the complex reality of happily-ever-after." -- Kirkus Reviews, STARRED Review* "Readers will fall in love with Lou Montgomery in this uplifting story, as she learns the power of music and the importance of family and friends." -- School Library Journal, STARRED Review* "Employing Lous clear voice and well-drawn relationships between complex characters, Sumner explores the challenges Lou faces as a result of her neuroatypicality and financially insecure past, culminating in an appealing, sensitively told tale." -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review Review Quote * "Readers will fall in love with Lou Montgomery in this uplifting story, as she learns the power of music and the importance of family and friends." Excerpt from Book Chapter 1: Bagels and Joe 1 Bagels and Joe Bagels and Joe cant be more than the size of your average motel room, but it is wall-to-wall jars of roasted coffee beans. It smells nutty and warm on this cold September morning. No one looks for a truant in a place like this. Ordinarily I love it here, curled up with a book and headphones in a corner where I can be any age at all in the low light. But today I cant hide. Because today I am the entertainment. Its been a month since our last show and my most recent episode. I can still feel the terrible panic, hear the confused voices of the crowd, and see Mom trying to gather our money and run. I suppose I should be grateful for the four-week break with no shows along the lake. She has a job now too, at the diner down the road, so weve usually got enough leftover hash browns and day-old donuts to keep us fed. But that doesnt mean she still hasnt been trying, like always, to land me the "next big gig." And today weve got a show. I cant tell if the time off has made the fear better or worse. Do I want to throw up more or less than I normally do before a performance? Its too close to call. It doesnt help that Bagels and Joe is also "the place" to come in Lake Tahoe to find undiscovered talent. I cant believe Mom finally talked Joe, the owner, into it. Maybe he heard about what had happened in front of the restaurant. Everybody always feels sorry for me after they see me melt down. That cant happen today. Moms already given me the "stand tall, be brave, keep it together" speech. She also tacked on the "you have a gift to share with the world" speech for good measure. But there are so many people clinking cups and scraping forks on plates. Theyve crammed themselves around wobbly tables that Joe himself moved out through the open doors and onto the deck. I am standing with my back to it all, tuning Moms guitar and swallowing buckets of air. No matter how many breaths I take, its not enough. I feel light-headed and fluttery, like a paper caught on a fence. The tuning is good. It gives my hands something to do. I wont be playing the guitar, though. Thats Moms job. Whenever it comes time to sing in front of people, I cant do anything but squeeze my hands tight behind my back. I used to close my eyes, too, but once I turned eleven, Mom said I had to keep them open or Id creep out the customers. Good. Let them be as creeped out by me as I am by them. Its like the moment right before youre supposed to blow out the candles on your birthday cake, when all the pressures on you. Except none of them can step in and help if I cant do it. I look out over the railing. The lake and the sky are the same blue--so light theyre almost white, and it makes me think of heaven. And rest and quiet. I tug at Moms sleeve so shell pull back from the audience shes currently "meeting and greeting." "I want to start with the Patty Griffin song," I whisper. She nods without looking away from the couple in spandex active wear at the front table. She jerks a glittery pink thumbnail toward them so only I can see. "Ray Bans and Rolexes," she says. "Todays the day, baby. I can feel it. Somebody in this pack is a scout from LA." She stares at the couple, lazily stirring their coffees with tanned hands, like shes hungry for something that has nothing to do with food. My insides turn to soup, and I feel sloshy and heavy all at once. My suede jacket feels too tight. Like saran wrap thats shrinking. Joe gives me a thumbs-up over by the open doors. Hes been nice, nice enough to let me sing on his property and to allow Mom in all her glory to put up flyers everywhere and basically boss his servers around all morning long. Theres always some promising musician up here trying to get a Saturday spot on the deck. He must do pretty well. I bet he doesnt have to sleep in a truck like Mom and me. I shoot him a tiny smile. Maybe this time will be different. At least out here on the deck, the customers are a good four feet away. No unexpected touches. I take a breath like Im about to dive underwater as Mom starts to speak in the voice she saves especially for shows. She sounds like the ringmaster in a circus. Or a car salesman. "Now this show is about to get under way, and we so appreciate your attendance. If you would, please hold your applause until the end. And boy will you want to applaud." She pauses and chuckles like she always does. "And now, the lovely Louise Montgomery!" My insides have liquefied. But I hand Mom the guitar and watch her count off: "A one, a two, a one two three four--" and then I find it. One red spot on a pine branch five feet away, just above the heads of the spandex couple. Its a cardinal. And today hes going to be who I sing to so I dont have to look at the crowd. I fix my eyes on him, and as I do, he turns his tufted head toward me and our eyes meet and it is luck and it is just enough to get me going. I let the beat of Moms guitar strum through me and start low, lower than a twelve-year-old girl should be able to go, or so Mom says. I sing of heaven and clouds and troubles blowing away in the wind. I go high on the "trouble," and my cardinal friend cocks his head, like he knows Im lying, because nothing chases away trouble. Except maybe the sound of my own voice in my head. I close my eyes and let the music take me. I sing of sorrow and time I cant borrow, and too soon I feel a tightening in my gut over what I have to do when the songs over. I never want it to end. If I could sing forever, I would. Then Id never have to speak to a living soul other than my mom. I go so low on the last line that it feels like a secret to myself. I say it over and over. Finally, my voice quivers to a stop like a penny settling on a counter. When the applause hits, its loud and sharp and knocks me back like a crack of thunder. The cardinal springs from his tree, and I drop to my knees. I will not rock back and forth. I will not whimper and whine. We cant have a repeat of what happened at Christys. We cant. I bite my tongue until I taste blood. I feel Mom come up behind me. She shoves the guitar at me and mutters, "Pretend like youre tuning." Shes covering. Like she always does. She tosses her dyed blond hair over her shoulder and begins a speech mostly knit together with thank-yous. She takes her time asking for requests from the group, beaming most of her megawatt smile at the couple at the front table. I get myself under control. By the time we begin the rest of our set, I am back to normal enough to finish three more songs. When the applause comes again, I stick my fingers in my ears while pretending to hold my hair back for a curtsy. Im so relieved its over I feel woozy. Joe approaches with a cup of coffee. I take it and breathe it in. The foam and sugary sweetness hit me like smelling salts and bring me back to myself. I study Joe over my cup while he keeps an eye on the crowd. Hes a muscly guy with tan lines from his sunglasses that make him look like a very nice raccoon. Right now, his arms are crossed like hes my own personal bodyguard. People give us space. "Not bad, Louise. Not bad at all," he says once the crowd begins to move back inside. "Your mom was right when she said you had the pipes." I smile into my cup. "Dont tell her I caffeinated a minor, okay?" We both look over to where shes standing, her hands on the hips of her tightest black jeans, talking to the Ray Ban guy. "I dont think shed care." "No?" Joe gives me a look like he wants to ask more. Ive already said too much, gotten too comfortable. Hes easy to talk to, and thats a problem. What happens between me and Mom stays between me and Mom. I begin packing up the guitar and tasseled rug we unroll for performances. "Thanks for the joe, Joe," I say. "Was that a joke?" He makes a shocked "oh" face, and I laugh, because the caffeine has kicked in and Im happy my job is done for the day. "I didnt think you had it in you. Stay cool, Louise," he says, and walks back into the caf Details ISBN1534457003 Author Jamie Sumner Pages 288 Language English ISBN-10 1534457003 ISBN-13 9781534457003 Format Hardcover Imprint Atheneum Books for Young Readers DEWEY 813.6 Publisher Simon & Schuster Audience Age 10-99 Place of Publication New York, NY Country of Publication United States NZ Release Date 2020-09-01 UK Release Date 2020-09-01 Illustrations f-c jkt (fx: spot gloss uv on matte); digital AU Release Date 2020-10-06 Alternative 9781534457010 Audience Children / Juvenile Year 2020 Publication Date 2020-09-01 US Release Date 2020-09-01 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:142144684;

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