The Grim Reaper's scythe barely missed his head. He wished it hadn't. Stephen Ingalls has quite enough on his plate. Starting his freshman year at Clarkstowne High School-a tough enough challenge for any young man-he finds that he and his friend Doug have been given the unprecedented opportunity to become the first student conductors of the high school orchestra. Dr. Donaldson, their teacher and mentor, will help them push the limits of their talents while weathering the storm of controversy and opposition to this innovative program. When Stephen meets Jason Anderson, he seems to know instinctively that the young man will also be important to him this new school year. It isn't that Jason is using a wheelchair, nor even that the boy is still grieving the loss of his best friend, Tony-killed in the same accident that caused Jason to lose the use of his legs. Jason has lost something else: The connection to a musical ability that Stephen is certain still burns inside. Jason is convinced that his music died with Tony, with the violin-a twin to his own-damaged in the accident. Doctors are certain that Jason's paralysis is psychological, that he could walk if only they could find and treat the dark blockage in his mind. Stephen, determined not to let either talent or hope disappear, must find the way to mend the pieces of the broken heart-and the broken violin-to help Jason overcome the past and live beyond the day the music died.

Born in 1940, Wolfgang Schulz experienced the war and post-war period in Austria from a child's perspective and recorded his memories in a series of vivid stories. Intense experiences of nature alternate with bizarre episodes from everyday life and special incidents that highlight the conditions of the war and post-war period for younger readers.

In The Broken Violin, Abigail Bosworth’s life is drastically changed when her wealthy British family flees Philadelphia in 1769. Anti-British sentiment is growing, and the Revolutionary War will soon erupt. After Abigail’s father closes his shipping business, they move to the Mohawk Valley in rural New York state and join a settlement of German Palatines, which is the nationality of Abigail’s mother. To blend into the small village of Stone Arabia, Abigail’s father opens an apothecary like his father in England, and Abigail becomes his assistant, an uncommon role for a woman in the late 1700s. Though life is momentarily calm, Abigail misses a Philadelphia friend she had hoped to marry. As the American rebellion begins growing, he joins a militia and vanishes. With war on the horizon, Abigail’s parents die in a heartbreaking accident, and she struggles to live alone. Her fears increase as local Mohawk folk hero, Joseph Brant, joins the British in terrorizing nearby villages. As the Revolutionary War officially begins, Abigail is forced to tackle life’s challenges head-on, even the possibility of her own death. Although mocked and plotted against, Abigail prevails and finds love in the most unexpected place. “M.B. Tosi begins a new series with The Broken Violin, an exciting story of the Revolutionary War. As with all of her books, this one is alive with adventure, genuine history, difficult decisions and faith. Enjoy!” — Jim Langford, Director Emeritus of University of Notre Dame Press