Review: Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral
Razorbill, 272 Pages
US Release: February 2, 2012
Challenge: Local Library Challenge

After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As readers flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, they see a girl on the precipice of disaster.
--------------------------Goodreads summary

Notable Quote Memorable Picture

([source], via the official Chopsticks pinterest page)

This actually wasn't the one I wanted to post, but the pages most memorable to me weren't on the Pinterest page and I figured it might be some infringement if I took a picture of the pages.

(This one is still beautiful, of course.)

I was weary at first, because it is entirely told in a picture/scrapbook-style and I mean...all you can think is a picture book, you know?  But it really is an experience, and a beautiful one.

The story itself is fairly common and predictable: a forbidden love between a piano prodigy and a hispanic boy. One watched like a hawk by her manager father, the other bullied relentlessly and finds solace in his art.  You watch their lives begin, you see their relationship begin and blossom and fulfill and struggle. You see the tangle, the debates, the passion.

It really is an amazing experience to go through this book.  Each picture is constructed masterfully, filled with such a story in each page.  There's real emotion, real thought -- and there was definitely a page or two that made my breath catch.  It's almost amazing how caught up you can get in it.

There isn't much to tell, because it's something you need to read yourself.  It was fun and exciting and so unique.  The low rating is simply because I felt like the story itself lacked; but the expression of it was phenomenal.

3.5 Stars / 5