The Story Behind Benny Feldman’s All-Star Klezmer Band
Benny Feldman has always tried to blend into the background. Why, then, did he sign up for the school talent show?! Find out more about this PJ Our Way selection – straight from the authors themselves!
By Allison and Wayne Marks
When we start writing any manuscript, whether it’s a picture book about a sleepy giant or a novel about finding one’s niche in the tumult of a sixth-grade classroom, we begin by imagining a character who will capture the reader’s interest from the first page—a relatable and real protagonist who children will gladly ride along with and root for until the story’s conclusion. Ideally, the memory of this character will linger well after the final page is turned.
We believe this is the case with eleven-year-old fiddler Benny Feldman, the star of our new middle-grade novel and PJ Our Way selection, Benny Feldman’s All-Star Klezmer Band. Benny faces the same troubles that have confronted schoolchildren since the invention of chalk: teasing from the popular crowd, fear of embarrassment, lost friendships, first crushes, and the self-doubt that comes from being an outsider. Reflecting back on the days when the page was blank, it has been a genuine pleasure putting our quirky, humorous spin on Benny’s world and how he navigates—stumbles—through it.
Benny’s number-one rule, “blend into the background,” is shattered when he signs up his fictitious klezmer band to play in the school talent show in an effort to triumph over his former rival, rock guitar virtuoso Jason Conroy. Now Benny must recruit fellow musicians to join him, which is no small task considering the school isn’t exactly swarming with klezmer enthusiasts. He must also overcome severe stage fright—the result of his disastrous performance in a first-grade Sabbath play which earned him the nickname, “The Amazing Exploding Grape.”
Readers will find plenty of laughs and, perhaps, a few tears along the way as they watch our hero recruit a group of kindred misfit musicians: Jennifer, a jazz-influenced drummer; Royce, a comic-book-loving clarinet prodigy; and Stuart, a tough-as-nails accordion player from Cajun Country. Co-author, Wayne—a longtime fiddler—lent authenticity to scenes displaying the struggles of gelling as a band and the feeling of elation when everything clicks.
While the story is filled with contemporary settings (a pinball tournament, potato chip factory, and oddity shop), the book touches on the past by making Benny part of a long line of klezmer musicians. Some of the history of klezmer is conveyed through conversations Benny has with an old black-and-white photo of his great-great-grandfather Moshe, a fiddler from Russia in the latter half of the 1800s.
In a time when there is great division throughout the world, we found it healing to write about the universality of music, a theme which runs throughout the book. Young readers will feast on a banquet of musical references, from Maurice Ravel to Simon and Garfunkel. One chapter is devoted to musicians of Jewish heritage. At the end, we invite children to take their own musical journey by listening to the many compositions mentioned in the text. Our hope is that they will embrace the words of Benny’s violin teacher, Uncle Maxwell, who lives by the adage, “All music is connected … and music connects us all.”
When we start writing any manuscript, whether it’s a picture book about a sleepy giant or a novel about finding one’s niche in the tumult of a sixth-grade classroom, we begin by imagining a character who will capture the reader’s interest from the first page—a relatable and real protagonist who children will gladly ride along with and root for until the story’s conclusion. Ideally, the memory of this character will linger well after the final page is turned.
We believe this is the case with eleven-year-old fiddler Benny Feldman, the star of our new middle-grade novel and PJ Our Way selection, Benny Feldman’s All-Star Klezmer Band. Benny faces the same troubles that have confronted schoolchildren since the invention of chalk: teasing from the popular crowd, fear of embarrassment, lost friendships, first crushes, and the self-doubt that comes from being an outsider. Reflecting back on the days when the page was blank, it has been a genuine pleasure putting our quirky, humorous spin on Benny’s world and how he navigates—stumbles—through it.
Benny’s number-one rule, “blend into the background,” is shattered when he signs up his fictitious klezmer band to play in the school talent show in an effort to triumph over his former rival, rock guitar virtuoso Jason Conroy. Now Benny must recruit fellow musicians to join him, which is no small task considering the school isn’t exactly swarming with klezmer enthusiasts. He must also overcome severe stage fright—the result of his disastrous performance in a first-grade Sabbath play which earned him the nickname, “The Amazing Exploding Grape.”
Readers will find plenty of laughs and, perhaps, a few tears along the way as they watch our hero recruit a group of kindred misfit musicians: Jennifer, a jazz-influenced drummer; Royce, a comic-book-loving clarinet prodigy; and Stuart, a tough-as-nails accordion player from Cajun Country. Co-author, Wayne—a longtime fiddler—lent authenticity to scenes displaying the struggles of gelling as a band and the feeling of elation when everything clicks.
While the story is filled with contemporary settings (a pinball tournament, potato chip factory, and oddity shop), the book touches on the past by making Benny part of a long line of klezmer musicians. Some of the history of klezmer is conveyed through conversations Benny has with an old black-and-white photo of his great-great-grandfather Moshe, a fiddler from Russia in the latter half of the 1800s.
In a time when there is great division throughout the world, we found it healing to write about the universality of music, a theme which runs throughout the book. Young readers will feast on a banquet of musical references, from Maurice Ravel to Simon and Garfunkel. One chapter is devoted to musicians of Jewish heritage. At the end, we invite children to take their own musical journey by listening to the many compositions mentioned in the text. Our hope is that they will embrace the words of Benny’s violin teacher, Uncle Maxwell, who lives by the adage, “All music is connected … and music connects us all.”
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