Book: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano (but she does love being in recitals)
Author: Peggy Gifford
Published: 2009
Source: Local Library
Moxy is back, and more Moxy-ish than ever. This time, she’s got a big, big, big piano recital coming up. She’s all ready. She’s got her glittery crown, her fake-ermine-trimmed cape, her sparkly shoes, and of course, her bow. Yep, this is going to be the best piano recital ever, and even the fact that Moxy hasn’t exactly practiced all that much isn’t enough to dim her excitement.
Reading this, I was struck by the fact that the series, while merely called Moxy Maxwell, is really about Moxy and her mom and the relationship that they have. In this one, Mrs. Maxwell is just back from Africa, where her twin sister fell off a ladder (yes, really). Jet-lagged to within an inch of her life, Mrs. Maxwell nevertheless is on the case, frosting 150 cupcakes, keeping the kids from using The Sharp Scissors, discerning whether Moxy does, in fact, know how to stop playing “Heart and Soul”and most of all, being there for Moxy when (as it does) stage fright inevitably strikes.
Balancing out poor Mrs. Maxwell’s world-weary (and sometimes just weary, poor woman) point of view is Moxy’s wild enthusiasm and grand ideas, which will strike a familiar chord with anybody who is or was a kid with more energy than experience.
Bravo for Moxy, three cheers for Mrs. Maxwell, and plentiful huzzahs for Peggy Gifford. I can’t wait for more.
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