Book description
A violin and a middle-school musical unleash a dark family secret in this moving story by an award-winning author duo. For fans of The Devil's Arithmetic and Hana's Suitcase.
It's 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers -- and the death of her beloved grandmother -- Shirli Berman is…
Why read it?
1 author picked Broken Strings as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love a good tear-jerker, and I love a book where a child has a solid and credible relationship with a grandparent, and I love a good junior-high musical. Believe it or not, this book has all that!
I pretty much blubbered through the last 10 chapters. The secret that Shirli’s grandfather has hidden for decades is a heart-wrenching one, but when it comes out it contains seeds of joy and healing.
From Carol's list on middle-grade mysteries about multigenerational family secrets.
If you love Broken Strings...
Touching the Surface
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced to…
Want books like Broken Strings?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Broken Strings.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,343
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Broken Strings, you might also like...
An Heir of Realms
An Heir of Realms tells the tale of two young heroines—a dragon rider and a portal jumper—who fight dragon-like parasites to save their realms from extinction.
Rhoswen is training as a Realm Rider to work with dragons and burn away the Narxon swarming into her realm. Rhoswen’s dream is to…
Jurassic Girl
Not too many people know about Mary Anning. In 1811, at age 12, Mary lived on the Jurassic Coast where she unearthed a 17-foot fossil.
Many of the men in the scientific community called her a fraud. They didn’t believe a girl from a poor family could make such a…
