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Muffled Hardcover – October 27, 2020

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 50 ratings

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A young girl learns how to cope with her noise sensitivity and step outside of her comfort zone in this heartwarming middle grade novel that’s perfect for fans of If This Were a Story and El Deafo.

Ten-year-old Amelia does not like noise. From subway brakes to squeaky sneakers, she is sensitive to sound, just like her dad. Amelia has always worn noise-canceling headphones, but now that she’s going into fifth grade, her parents want her to stop wearing them. To make matters worse, she must learn to play an instrument! Or, as Amelia sees it, make noise
on purpose.

To help Amelia cope, her father gives her a pair of earmuffs to wear instead. Even with her new earmuffs, Amelia struggles at school…until she gets partnered with Madge in music class. Madge is loud and bold and goofy—everything Amelia is not. And so Amelia is surprised when Madge wants to be friends.

Still, it’s not long though before Amelia’s quiet nature clashes with Madge’s loud personality. And when Madge disappears after an argument, Amelia fears Madge might be in trouble. If she’s going to help her friend, she will have to find a way to let in the noisy world she’s muffled for so long.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With the start of fifth grade comes new responsibilities for 10-year-old Amelia: she is allowed to walk to school and visit the Boston Public Library alone, but she also has to give up the noise-canceling headphones that she previously relied upon to manage her noise sensitivity. On the first day of school, Amelia's father, who has the same sensitivity, gives her a pair of fluffy purple earmuffs to ease the transition. Used in conjunction with the mental math she does as a coping mechanism, the earmuffs help to keep classroom and city noise at "five bars out of ten," but frustrate her mother and have an alienating effect in the classroom. As the class begins music lessons, Amelia struggles to settle on an instrument and retreats into the world of books until a solo library trip inspires her to pick up the trombone, and she embarks on a new friendship with fellow trombonist Madge. Gennari (My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer) effectively works Amelia's experience onto nearly every page ("each noise bounces around the walls of my head like a rubber ball"), making each of her hard-won victories resonate powerfully. A gentle portrait of a child learning to navigate her world. Ages 8-12. Agent: Andrea Cascardi, Transatlantic Agency. (Oct.)

Review

"Amelia's voice rings as clear and true as a song. Readers will root for her as she finds friends and music in her own way. A thoughtful, rewarding middle-grade story." (Beth Turley, author of IF THIS WERE A STORY and THE LAST TREE TOWN )

"A sweet book that packs a quiet punch. Readers will feel for quiet Amelia as she fights to find her place in a noisy world." (Gennifer Choldenko, Newbery-Honor winning author of AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS and ORPHAN ELEVEN )

"Gennari effectively works Amelia's experience onto nearly every page ("each noise bounces around the walls of my head like a rubber ball"), making each of her hard-won victories resonate powerfully." (Publishers Weekly )

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (October 27, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1534463658
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534463653
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 630L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 50 ratings

About the author

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Jennifer Gennari
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Jennifer Gennari is the author of MUFFLED (Simon & Schuster, 2020), a Junior Library Guild selection and Georgia Children's Book Award finalist, and MY MIXED-UP BERRY BLUE SUMMER (Houghton Mifflin, 2012), a Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year selection, and an American Library Association Rainbow List title. An engaging speaker, she teaches regularly at the Highlights Foundation and the Writing Barn. Her poetry has appeared in typishly, Lascaux Review, and several issues of the Marin Poetry Anthology. A graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, she divides her time between the SF Bay Area and Vermont.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
50 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2021
    Author Jen Gennari is personally connected to the book's theme of hypersensitivity to sound. She's a great writer, and generous person, too--her course for authors via the Highlights Foundation is excellent.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2024
    This book is so good I finished it in a week and I’m don’t really understand books that well and I really understood this one. This is perfect for teachers to read to classes and better yet there’s even discussion Questions at the end of the book. Jennifer Gennari is a really good author and knows how to Connect to her book. 100% recommend this book
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2023
    My stepdaughter gave me this book for my birthday, and as someone with noise sensitivity (like the main character), I couldn't wait to read it...and it was even better than I hoped it would be! This book should be required reading in schools, as well as for any professionals who work with children. As a pediatric neuropsychologist, I've worked with so many neurodiverse children who constantly feel misunderstood, wish their parents "got" them, and desperately want friends who accept them as they are. This book covers all of that and more. The characters are so lovingly drawn, they instantly feel real, and you understand their motivations and behaviors even when you get frustrated at the choices they're making. I wish this book had been around when I was a child so I could have given it to people and said, "Here, this will help you understand me better." Highly recommend this delightful story of family, growing up, facing challenges, making friends, and figuring out how to be yourself.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2022
    I adored this book about Amelia and her struggle to fit into a loud world. As she begins fifth grade, new things are on the horizon. She will turn ten, and she gets her Charlie Card. But she also will no longer have her noise-canceling headphones, and probably worse--she must learn to play a musical instrument. Amelia uses her new ear muffs to help shield herself from noises, but she recognizes how alone she is as she watches her classmates develop friendships. When she chooses to learn the trombone, Amelia grows closer to Madge, a very loud girl with a gift for music. For the first time she wonders if she can be a person who needs the quiet, but also a person who can eat and play tag with her friends.
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2020
    This is an incredibly sweet story of a ten year-old girl struggling with the noises in the world around her, as well as with the dynamics of changing friendships, being different, feeling unseen/misunderstood by some important adults in her world and still finding her way. An empathic read for any child who needs to march to the beat of their own drum (or, in this case, their own trombone!) however it may look, feel and sound.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2020
    From the first page, the author draws the reader into Amelia's world in which ordinary sounds are overwhelming. As Amelia navigates teasing, making friends, and her first music classes, she must challenge herself to remove the ear muffs that buffer her from painful sounds, but also distance her from others. Amelia's experiences are both unique and universal, creating a story that readers allows readers to connect with her and empathize with her struggles.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2020
    MUFFLED was a really creative spin on the story of a child finding her place and discovering friendship. The characters were well-drawn and realistic, and the tension was poignant and relatable. I learned a lot about noise sensitivity in the process of reading the book, but Jen Gennari managed to bring me into that world gradually and in a way that didn't disrupt the movement of the story. Beautiful!
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021
    A time for quiet, a time for noise, and a time to MAKE noise! Such a beautiful story of Amelia and her struggle with noise sensitivity. Kiddos everywhere can learn from Amelia’s strength and courage to learn to adapt to a world full of noise.