The Unicorn Sonata

The Unicorn Sonata, written by Peter S. Beagle, is about a lack-luster 13 year old girl named Josephine Riveira who accidentally stumbles upon a magical land called Shei'rah. The story that unfolds is both riveting and beautiful. The Unicorn Sonata is a wonderful read, accessible to both children and adults and successfully brings back the sort of magical world that we seem to have forgotten in today's chaotic society.

Thirteen year old Josephine (`Joey') Rivera helps out part time at John Papas' music store in return for lessons. When a young boy named Indigo walks into the store trying to sell a strange horn on which he can play wonderful haunting music Joey is entranced. While John Papas cannot play the instrument Joey finds that she can. But Indigo's price for the instrument is too high and Joey is left with only the memory of his song. Several nights later, after visiting Abuelita, her grandmother, Joey hears the music again and follows it. Suddenly she finds herself in a different world, Shei'rah, the home of the unicorns.She meets Ko, a Satyr, who takes her to meet The Eldest, the nearly immortal unicorns, in an adventure we will never forget. Shei'rah is a world of beauty and danger, and The Eldest, at it's heart, are the music of that world. Gradually she learns their ways and of a blinding disease which is gradually destroying them. Traveling back and forth across the border between our world and Shei'rah, Joey seeks to help heal the Unicorns and bring their music back. "The Unicorn Sonata" is the story of her quest, told beautifully by Peter Beagle and illustrated by Robert Rodriguez.Beagle is the author of "The Last Unicorn" and "A Fine and Private Place," which is on my all time favorites list. In the years since these novels Beagle has become a more youth oriented. While he has remained accessible to us adults, he aims his message where it will do the most good. This is especially true of the "The Unicorn Sonata," which is not really a coming of age story, but one of finding one's self. Beagle has the ability to turn commonplaces into mysteries in his fiction and from those mysteries construct tales that reflect his abiding belief in human nature. The reader rediscovers the world through the eyes and ears of Joey and her friends. In her quest to heal the unicorns' vision she brings clarity to her own. She is stretched and tested, but never found wanting. Always, in the end, hope returns and we find healing.

This book is one of the best I have ever read. I've read it and re-read it many times!The sheer beauty displayed in this book is astounding.It holds your attention the whole way through. It's a fantastical journey through a mysterious land. Very, very highly recommended.

I never thought I'd find another book that even got close to rivaling The Last Unicorn, but this is it. As a true devoteé of fantasy fiction, I am always critical of any book that involves talking animals: it's the one thing that spoils it for me. But this book is an exception to that rule. Beagle's superb attention to the details of the landscape of Shei'rah really brought the book to life for me, and I find it a book that I can sit down and read after a hectic day and just feel the pressures of the day slip away. Another thumbs up for Beagle!

I first read this book about a year ago. I cannot believe that it is already out of print. Peter S. Beagle has done it again. He is able to capture the same beauty and wonder of unicorns that he achieved in his classic book The Last Unicorn. I am absolutely dying to read any more books by him.