|Eleven-year-old Ada Rios lives with her family in a landfill in Cateura in Paraguay’s capital city of Asuncion. It is one of the poorest slums in all of South America. Favio Chavez, an environmental engineer sent to Cateura to teach safety practices to the gancheros (recyclers) working in the dangerous heaps of trash, worried about the children and decided to offer them music lessons. Since they could not afford instruments, they created cellos, flutes, guitars, violins, and more out of garbage. In time, Chavez’s music class became the Recycled Orchestra. Now, the orchestra plays around the world, spreading their message of hope and inspiration. They even opened for a Metallica concert. This true story is illustrated with mixed media collages. Spanish words are smoothly integrated into the text. An author’s note; websites, videos, and sources; and a photo of string instruments made from oil drums, paint cans, and pieces of wooden crates are included. The book is also available in a Spanish edition, El Violin de Ada: La historia de la Orquesta de Intrumentos Reciciados del Paraguay. mjw|
|Title: Ada’s Violin: The Story Of The Recycled Orchestra Of Paraguay
Author: Susan Hood
Illustrator: Sally Wern Comport
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York
Original Language: English
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Paraguay
Author’s ethnicity: U.S.
Author’s residence: Connecticut, U.S.
Illustrator’s ethnicity: U.S.
Illustrator’s residence: Maryland, U.S.
Subjects: Classical music, instruments, Music, Musicians, orchestra, Recycling, Spanish