Silent Music

by James Rumford

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Summary: Ali is a young boy living in Baghdad during the war. He loves to play soccer, but he also finds peace through practicing his calligraphy.

Art: The artwork beautifully evokes Iraqi culture, employing rich, warm colors and plenty of geometric designs woven into the background and occasionally characters’ clothing. Calligraphy is also prominently featured throughout.

Review: Although the book has a few non sequiturs, changing abruptly from discussing Ali’s love of soccer to his love of calligraphy, the story is beautiful, demonstrating how Ali using calligraphy and his dedication in practicing it to find a bit of good in his war-torn world. Ali also compares himself to the famous calligraphy Yakut, who similarly found escape in beautiful writing. The book has no plot ending, instead leading abruptly to a detailed author’s note about calligraphy, but this is excusable in the sense that Ali is still experiencing a war without an ending.