Yolonda's Genius

Yolanda, 10 and her brother Andrew, 6 live with their widowed mother in Chicago. When Yolanda tells their mother that a classmate shot another child to death, that ends her days as a Chicago resident. Her mother, a paralegal, moves the family to a Michigan suburb with a good school system. Yolanda quickly adjusts, after initially pining for the familiarity of her old neighborhood and the close proximity to her Aunt Tiny. Aunt Tiny is a large, husky woman with a large heart. She gives her piano to Yolanda, who is plainly talented and enjoys listening to and playing the classics. A delightful, intelligent woman, Aunt Tiny owns several hair salons in Chicago and her work has been featured nationwide and in magazines. Oprah Winfrey was a client at one of her shops. Yolanda identifies with her aunt. Both are husky and buxom; both are outstanding cooks and both share a love for classical music and reading. Aunt Tiny as well as her sister-in-law, Yolanda and Andrew's mother are professionals who set their sights high. Andrew, also is musically talented. A harmonica afficionado, the boy has been playing songs and setting background sounds to music since infancy. His harmonica was a gift from his late father, a police officer who died in a fishing accident. Yolanda was 4 at the time. Andrew has a harder time in school; he rarely talks; cannot read and spends his free time thinking about music. A kind speech teacher takes Andrew under his wing and teaches him to read by applying the lessons to musical terms and interests, e.g. "B is for Bongo," etc. He also teaches Andrew how to read music. Yolanda is fiercely independent and very bright. She can defend herself against any bully with reason, logic and a well applied foot in some cases. She is also very funny. When a group of older boys demolish her brother's harmonica, Yolanda comes up with a resourceful way of getting even with them and providing a new harmonica for her brother. This is a wonderful story about a strong, intelligent black family with a very appealing cast of characters. The story ends on quite a blues note! I love it!

12 year old Yolanda, her mother, and six year old brother, Andrew, (their dad had died when Yolonda was young) lived in Chicago, on the third floor of an apartment building. Their mother decided to move when Andrew got a packet of cocaine from school. They moved to Michigan where Yolanda was bored out of her wits by the calm lifestyle. Andrew, unlike Yolanda, did very badly in school, but he loved to play the harmonica. He could play anything. He could reproduce he sound of voices, food, people, moods, anything. Then one day something happens that changes everything for Yolanda and her family. My favorite character was Yolanda because she is kind to her brother, and makes him feel important .She respects him and thinks he is a genius.I would recommend this book because it is funny and fun to read. It is also exciting like when Yolanda beats up a kid and sad when her brother's harmonica gets squashed by a mean seventh grader. Carol Fenner is a very descriptive and good writer.

I have to admit, what drew me to this book is my own name: Yolanda. In this story Yolonda and her family are uprooted, and Yolonda has to make new friends and find her way around a new neighborhood in Florida. Her little brother, we would say seems traumatized, expresses himself solely through his harmonica. Yolonda becomes his interpretor, until the day the music stops.Yolonda embarks on a journey to help her brother recover his "voice", and in the process, she finds her own.I agree with other reviewers that it is for older readers. But honestly, I think it's really an adult book in disguise.

I love the way the author's characters and the way she describes them. She uses rich, unexpected words that startle you at first, but when you think about it-- they really make sense. Aunt Tiny is Yolanda's 300+ pound aunt. Instead of scorning her bigness, it talks about how wonderful she is, her hugeness adding to her great character. In one place, it said her laugh was buttery and rich enough to eat, and another time it said her backside "spread gloriously" over two seats at a concert. Another character, Shirley, also catches you off-guard. She's small, contrasting with big Yolanda, but with huge whirling blue eyes and a man-voice. Yolanda thinks of her as Shirley Whirley. I liked Andrew, and his second teacher, Vic Watts (who stutters). Andrew has a hard time learning to read, but he loves music. The music writing code seems to make more sense to him than the word writing code. Watts helps him learn to read by teaching music parallel with music. B for Bongo, g for guitar, etc. Andrew calls the music notes Mickey Mouse feet. :)

YOLANDA'S GENIUS by Carol Fenner is a book which explores important social issues through one extraordinary girl's relationships with her family and classmates. Yolanda's sense of herself and her confidence in who she is, is an attitude that all children would do well to imitate, as she deals with prejudices that are less related to race than to the diversity found within each individual. Fenner's style is rhythmic and musical and her characters are rich and strong. The book depicts how brightly that one person can shine among many and is a testament to the power of the individual. I don't know how realistic the scenario is, especially in light of the unlikely ending, but the story promotes hope in an unsure and unstable world and maintains that it is through hard work and courage that hope is realized. YOLANDA'S GENIUS is a good one to add to your children's library.