Becky Cohen, age thirteen, is obsessed with playing the violin, but her widowed mother cannot afford private lessons. At the Y’s group lessons, Becky struggles to perform in front of her fellow students and impatient teacher. Her clever younger brother writes and publishes his own newspaper, The Splinter, in which he provides hilarious, but sympathetic, commentary on Becky’s life. She finally gets help in achieving her goal of obtaining a music scholarship from Mr. Freeman, the handyman at her apartment building. He teaches her to believe in herself when others don’t and to discover the music within herself. bal

Becky Cohen has a rough life. She’s an outsider everywhere she goes: shunned and mocked at school, at her violin lessons, and at home by her disapproving mother. Her only true friend is her brilliant little brother, newspaper-loving Benjy. She dreams of becoming a great violinist, but at the group lessons she’s forced to take at the Y, Becky panics and plays badly. Then Becky meets Mr. Freeman, her building’s handyman. He has a lot to teach her about becoming a musician, and being a friend.
Gradually, Becky begins speaking her mind more often, and finds that people are actually listening. Then Mr. Freeman tells Becky about a local performing arts high school’s scholarship contest. With the lessons learned from Mr. Freeman and Benjy, can Becky overcome her fears and play what’s in her heart?