Go out and find your perfect song

Graphic novel highlights music’s role in adolescence, Bernie Goedhart writes.

Operatic Kyo Maclear Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler Groundwood Books Ages 10 to 14 As a teen in the early 1960s, I was obsessed with the Beatles and wrote my father off as ignorant when he failed to appreciate their musical genius. What could you expect, I asked myself, from a man whose own musical tastes veered toward opera or country and western — two genres that elicited groans and eye rolls on my part.

Today, decades later, I am filled with chagrin at my snotty teenage self. And I have mentally thanked my long-deceased father for the gene that clearly passed from him to my sons, both of whom have grown up with wide-ranging musical appreciation.

In Operatic, a graphic novel written by Toronto’s Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Calgary’s Byron Eggenschwiler, it’s not a parent but a teacher who gets a group of young teens thinking about music and the way they respond to it. In the process, he tells his class that everyone has a song that will speak to them — that “somewhere in the universe, there is the perfect tune for you.” For Mr. K, the teacher, that song is Take On Me by A-ha, a Norwegian band from the 1980s. (Son 1 snorted with derision when I told him I had never heard of the band and had no idea which song was being referenced.)

It’s almost the end of middle school. As a final assignment, Mr. K. tells his students to choose a song that has special meaning for them right now, and to write about how they connect with the music. “One thing,” he adds, “no attitude. You know, the snobbery that says certain types of music are for certain types of people.” One girl in the class protests. “People always judge people by the music they like. It’s, like, mandatory,” she says.

And therein lies a hint to the subplot of Operatic, which centres on Charlotte (Charlie) Noguchi and her friends — just one of various tribes (or cliques) that operate in the school. A quiet, thoughtful and observant individual, Charlie has a crush on Emile, something of a loner in the class, who’s more interested in butterflies, bees and other insects than in music or sports or the kinds of gossip that many middle schoolers engage in.

When comments are made about a boy with effeminate characteristics and an emotional singing style, however, Emile is quick to speak up in his defence. And when that boy mysteriously disappears from school for several weeks, Emile and Charlie are among those who welcome him back upon his return.

Adolescence is not the easiest of times in anyone’s life. Identities are being formed, alliances are being made, feelings get hurt and questions get asked. Music can help, and the support of friends is crucial. So is a teacher who understands all these things.

As for the title of this book, it refers both to the drama of adolescence and transitions in life, plus to the music that comes to define Charlie in her final year of middle school — namely, the discovery of Maria Callas, and opera in general.

My father would have applauded her choice.