The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island

Writing with Fogelson in third-person prose, Teave tells the story of her own path to musical success and her eventual conservation work at home on Rapa Nui, island site of the world-famous moai. For Teave, “music was the heart” of the island. But after learning on the island’s sole piano, and being told that “her talent could not fully bloom” there, she moves away to become a concert pianist. Visits home “made Mahani feel whole again,” and it’s on these trips she realizes that, between tourists and ocean litter, “trash/ was/ everywhere.” In response, Teave takes inspiration from her creative ancestors and joins a team working to create a music school using recycled building materials. In warm and cool tones, Álvarez Miguéns’s artwork emphasizes the light brought by music, and concluding images highlight the positive local impact of the sustainable school. Back matter includes an author’s note, facts, and glossary. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)