The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman
Gr 4-7–Given a class assignment to find a mystery and solve it, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding sets out to discover the true identity and personality of Ms. Finkleman, her seemingly ordinary music teacher. The woman is so ordinary that she is practically invisible to students and staff alike. This changes when Bethesda unearths some 1990s rock music paraphernalia and puts the pieces together (so she thinks), to find that Ms. Finkleman used to be Little Miss Mystery, in the band The Red Herrings. Bethesda is in a quandary after the project becomes the school's obsession. There is a rock star among them and so the choral corral that Ms. Finkleman was planning for a multischool competition will now showcase rock and a performance by her, instead of the 16th-century English folk ballads she had hoped the students would deliver. It is safe to say that Ms. Finkleman shuns the sudden fame and the attention it garners her. This story is part mystery, part friendship novel, part school story. There are twists and turns, but what is most enjoyable is the effect that learning and playing rock music has on the teacher's students. Everyone seems to discover their true inner selves through music, and that includes the not-so-mysterious-after-all Ms. Finkleman.–Tracy Karbel, Chicago Public Libraryα(c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.