Cary Fagan

Banjo of Destiny Cary Fagan

Jeremiah Birnbaum lives in a house with nine bathrooms, a games room, an exercise room, an indoor pool, a hot tub, a movie theater, a bowling alley and a tennis court. His parents ? a former hotdog vendor and window cleaner who made it big in dental floss ? make sure Jeremiah goes to the very best private school, and that he takes lessons in all the things he will need to know how to do as an accomplished and impressive young man. Etiquette lessons, ballroom dancing, watercolor painting. And, of course, classical piano.

Jeremiah wants to please his parents. But one day, by chance, he hears the captivating strains of a different kind of music ? the strums, plucks and rhythms of a banjo. It's music that stirs something in Jeremiah's dutiful little soul, and he is suddenly obsessed. So when his parents forbid him to play one, his best friend, Luella, convinces him to learn anyway ? even if he has to make the instrument himself.

Accompanied by line drawings by Selçuk Demirel and supplemented by advice and resources on making a homemade banjo, this is a funny, inspiring and timeless story about finding something you love to do, and then setting out, despite all obstacles, to do it.