The Rising Star of Rusty Nail

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail

By Lesley M. M. Blume

Recommended for Grades 4-8.
Rusty Nail, Minnesota in 1953. Mischievous Franny was a tomboy who liked to play pranks like throwing water balloons with her buddy Sandy. Franny was like any youngster in Rusty Nail except for the fact she was a naturally gifted pianist. Franny acquired her talent from father Wes, a gifted trumpet player, who was once, offered the opportunity to tour with Duke Ellington.

But even with all her talent, how could a child prodigy like Franny, who had surpassed the abilities of her piano teacher Mrs. Staudt, expect to become a star in a sleepy backwater town? Franny’s abilities seemed destined to be wasted until a mysterious Russian woman with a grand piano and a grand gift for playing it moved to Rusty Nail. During the era of McCarthyism when America was on high alert of the “Commie Menace”, Madame Malenkov’s arrival in Rusty Nail stirred much suspicion amongst the townsfolk. Will Franny be brave enough to overcome nosy town gossips in order to seek help from Madame Malenkov?

Two copies of The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley M. M. Blume are located in the Junior High Fiction section of the KPL Youth Department.

Submitted by Youth Services Dept. Head, Sara Darding