The Dulcimer Boy
By Tor Seidler

     The Dulcimer Boy was first published in 1979, the year I graduated high school, and it has weathered the years a bit better than I. It's a touching story of a boy with a gift for music and a deep love for his mute brother. The terribly rotten aunt and uncle keeping the orphan boys has grown rather cliché through the years, but the book manages to be lyrical and charming, despite plot devices that have grown a bit thin with use. There's magic here, but it's subtle -- no flashy wizards and dragons in this book. Instead it's the magic of music and love. The Dulcimer Boy is a story told with the strong narrator intrusion that's found a new popularity in recent years, but this story is devoid of the wink, wink, nudge, nudge quality of much of today's similar books, such as the Lemony Snicket series. The lyrical voice and serious storytelling make the book a truly lovely read-aloud. The soft illustrations by Brian Selznick add to the melancholy charm of the story.