A Question of Harmony

by Gretchen Sprague

Every girl in town knew Dave Carpenter-or wanted to. Award-winning athlete, brilliant musician, school leader, he wasn't the type to give shy, retiring Jeanne Blake a second glance. But one summer Dave did notice Jeanne. He saw the humor bubbling beneath the seriousness, the sensitivity hiding behind the silence. He asked her out-then he asked her out again.

Genres: Young Adult

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1965

About the author

Gretchen Burnham Sprague was a legal services lawyer in Brooklyn, New York, for eleven years. She retired to the Hudson Highlands to write the Martha Patterson mysteries. Sprague died in an accident in 2003.

Reviews

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books when I was in high school, and re-reading it nearly 30 years later as an adult I appreciate it even more.

Its richly interwoven themes are large (civil rights and bigotry), small (tumultuous adolescent friendships and romance), and in-between (the first serious thoughts about career choice), but all are engaging and fit together in ways that make sense.

Written in 1965, the details of the plot (as well some of the vocab, so be warned) are tied to their time period, but the characters and their personal stories are timeless.

This book is tough to find but well worth the search.