Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Solid MG novel about grief and regret. Very strong trigger warnings needed for parental death and depression.

While some feel that avoiding sad or difficult topics in children’s books is a way to shelter children from difficulty, most books help and heal with such difficulty. Empathy can be learned through reading, especially through reading fiction. "Miracle" is such a book. Amie’s father (her Ba-ba) has struggled with cancer for years, and sadly passes away. The book opens with her father already ill, so the story is less about him being ill, and more about what happens during and after his illness. Definitely more appropriate for older readers, due to the sensitive nature of the content. Beautifully written with references to music (each chapter is started with a musical term, definition, and that theme emerges in the main character’s life within that chapter), to friendship (“Thank you for giving me space to be sad”), and to Harry Potter (they identify as Slytherin, but don’t hold that against them). This book would be helpful for children experiencing the loss of a parent or loved one, for children considering going to therapy, and will help them know that this too shall pass.

After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, Amie’s Baaba (with whom she had a close relationship) dies, leaving her with the mother she feels disconnected from. After his death, Amie can’t seem to find her way back to playing the violin — something that connected her with her dad. The book chronicles her path through grief and finding her way back to music and building a new connection with her mom. It’s an understandably sad, but moving story about friendship, community, music, and grief.

It's such a wonderful novel about Aime, a violinist who shares her love of music with her father, who has cancer. She has such a big connection with him that when he passes, she is overwhelmed with grief and is unable to articulate her feelings. Her friends, Rio and Belle, complete her circle; they are the Harry Potter trio. They have read all the books and watched the movies multiple times. She's troubled with fear of losing their friendship and not knowing how to connect with her mom. Although she is taken to therapy, she's learning how to deal with her grief without having to lose those around her.
There is so much symbolism between music and her life. So touching, anyone who reads can feel the connection with Aime and her path as she heals.

This heartfelt story deals with the sensitive topic of grief and handles the complexities beautifully by also bringing in music. Perfect for young readers!

Miracle is a beautiful tribute to the healing powers found within music, friendship, and family. This MG contemporary moved me to tears more than once, resonating deep in my heart and soul on multiple levels -- as a musician, a mother, a daughter, and as someone who has dealt with grief several times both in her own childhood and adulthood.

Amie's grief was raw and tangible but also accessible and understandable, well-executed for the middle grade audience. The author did a beautiful job authenticating not only the connection music had with every facet of the main character's life but also with the affects grief had on that life as well.

Many of my elementary students deal with grief on a day to day basis, and this book, stories like Amie's will be so important to them because it takes a big idea and sometimes those unexplainable emotions makes them tangible, makes them "okay."

I look forward to more books by this talented author!

MIRACLE follows Amie as she navigates school while her father is dying of cancer. What connects them is their love of music. Amie plays the violin and orchestra is where her main support system exists.

As the story progresses, we see the big and complicated feelings Amie has as she experiences grief. I think it was well-written and incredibly vulnerable. It was hard not to cry while reading, but ultimately, this is a story about getting to the other side of grief. It's about leaning on others during the different seasons of your life and finding hope even when it seems hard.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

Miracle is the touching story of a young violinist who struggles with grief after her father passes away. Amie is a talented violinist, but when her father dies, she "loses her sound" and can no longer play the violin well. Her grief also drives a rift between her and her mother and friends.

This sweet story has themes of forgiveness, family bonds, friendship, and healing and is infused with musical imagery and metaphor. An important read for anyone going through grief or supporting someone who is grieving. Young music lovers and Harry Potter fans will also enjoy this book (no magic but plenty of Harry Potter references).

Amie loves music, and even as a sixth grader, she is concertmaster of her orchestra with the help of her trusty violin. At home, Amie plays for her father as he is recovering from cancer treatments, his positive demeanor encouraging her to keep improving. But as the cancer winds its way into Ba-ba’s brain, he becomes a different person, and all the hope he and Amie shared begins to disappear. And when the unthinkable happens, Amie loses her ability to play music, and it will require a miracle to help her emerge from her sorrow.

This novel is beautifully crafted, and it focuses intently on the range of emotions Amie feels. Using Harry Potter as a source of countless metaphors, Amie describes her world and her feelings in terms of scenes from those books. Additionally, each chapter in this novel begins with an element of music that directly relates to the events within the chapter. These two ongoing themes help readers connect to Amie in multiple ways, whether or not they have lost a loved one themselves.

Short chapters and a straightforward writing style make this book well suited to its target audience. Young readers will appreciate the depth of the storytelling in this book, and it will especially speak to readers who have navigated sorrow and grief in their lives. Amie’s music serves as a tangible reflection of her emotions, and Amie’s persistence in the wake of tragedy is inspiring to readers of all ages. An author's note and glossary at the end of the book enhance the story and give readers an additional perspective on Amie’s experiences and just how true her feelings really are. Heartbreaking and honest, this book is one that will resonate with readers and is a particularly good selection for both book clubs and classroom reading.

A moving account of grief and finding joy after loss. Definitely a heartfelt story that will resonate with young readers who have experienced the death of a loved one.

I had tears streaming down my face while reading this one. It is so gut wrenching, and so good. I thought it would be sappy, seeing as the premise is that a girl loses her father to cancer, and then loses her music ability as well, because it reminded her of him.

The author said she wrote it based on losing her father to cancer, while she was in college. And how she traded times, sitting at his bedside, while he slipped away.

Death is hard. When my mother came home, after a month in the hospital, to die at home, we kept pretending that she just came home to get well, sort of how Amie keeps thinking her father will get well. This is despite all the clues that this is not happening. She just ignores all the clues. It is so easy to do, to just keep hoping for the best.

The book is divided by the before time, when she was the first violin, and was going to have a solo, to after her father died, when she can’t play, because it reminds her of how much he loved her music.

And because she is young, she is struggling with this. Her life is music. How can she lose her father and her music?

A perfect book for those who have lost a parent, especially if they are young, but heck, I could relate to this so much, even though both my parents lived into their 90s.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for making this available for an honest review.</em>