Becky Cohen, age thirteen, is obsessed with playing the violin, but her widowed mother cannot afford private lessons. At the Y’s group lessons, Becky struggles to perform in front of her fellow students and impatient teacher. Her clever younger brother writes and publishes his own newspaper, The Splinter, in which he provides hilarious, but sympathetic, commentary on Becky’s life. She finally gets help in achieving her goal of obtaining a music scholarship from Mr. Freeman, the handyman at her apartment building. He teaches her to believe in herself when others don’t and to discover the music within herself. bal