Mary Brigid Barrett

Mary Brigid Barret brought a lovely story together when a young boy, Ephram brings the joy of music back into a man's life who not only lost his sight but his daughter in a car accident. This book does not truly emphasis Mr. Washington's blindness, rather it shows the beauty of what listening can do for someone. The book does not single out Mr. Washington's disability, rather it makes him part of the community. One amazing thing that the author did was allow the reader to hear the events of the book like Mr. Washington heard them. I felt like I was in the concert hall when the two were playing their performance. I heard the jazz and the blues music coming from the rooftop from Ephram's violin. This book will definitely be read in my classroom one day as it has been one of my favorites from this semester.… (more)

Ephram is a young boy who loves to play his violin. He talks to his neighbor, Mr. Washington, who tells him he should perform at the fundraiser concert. Ephram is hesitant, but later agrees if Mr. Washington would make an appearance and possibly play the piano. At the concert, the power goes out. Ephram, who is used to playing in the dark on the roof top, steps onto the stage. He invites Mr. Washington, who is blind from a car accident, to join him in playing "Amazing Grace." Ephram and Mr. Washington take the stage and light up the night with their music.
I enjoyed this book because it showed Mr. Washington, who lost not only his sight but his daughter in a car accident, still joyful and full of life. In this book, Mary Brigid Barrett represented people with disabilities from a different racial (African American) background. She also showed Mr. Washington going to wash and fold his own laundry in the community. I enjoyed this inspiring read and would read it to my kindergarten to fourth grade class.… (more)

Ephram is a young boy who loves music and play his violin. Ephram is walking down the street and we meet the character Mr. Washington who says he knew is was him waling down the street by the rhythm of his walk. He says everyone has a different rhythm. That's when we find out Mr. Washington is visually impaired. Mr. Washington tells Ephram he hears him playing his violin on the roof at night and his music takes his breath away. He tells him he should play at the open mic concert but Ephram is scared. We later find out Mr. Washington was a professional pianist but was in an accident and lost his baby girl. Ephram decides to do the concert but he wants Mr. Washington to join, which he does after some begging from Ephram and they do wonderful. This is another example of how people with disabilities can do amazing things that other people can't do. I like how Mr.s Washington can tell who is walking by even though he cannot see. If I were to have my eyes closed and listened while people walked by, I would have no clue but that shows how people with disabilities learn things with their other senses and I thought that was cool. I feel that the book didn't even focus on the disability Mr. Washington has. It focused more on the music they can both play. I liked this book a lot and the illustrations were awesome.… (more)