Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood (review)

Hood recounts the story of young Ada Ríos, a Paraguayan child who grew up in a slum alongside a huge mountain of trash, and whose family were among the gancheros who made or supplemented an income sorting through the refuse for anything salvageable and salable. With a strong desire to learn the violin but no real chance for her family to finance instrument and lessons, she became a member of the core group to benefit from an innovative program begun by Favio Chávez, an environmental engineer whose work with the gancheros inspired him to invent musical instruments from recycled materials, offer lessons to local children, and ultimately found an orchestra. Through Ada’s story, readers learn about the Recycled Orchestra itself and the “worthless” instruments (made from paint cans, crates, etc.) that held no temptation to desperate thieves but became invaluable both to owners and audiences worldwide who attend the traveling orchestra’s concerts. Comport’s mixed-media collage illustrations inventively integrate snips and scraps as well, and readers who cheer the musicians’ globe-trotting success never lose literal sight of the humble materials upon which that achievement was built. Photographs of the players and several violins accompany Hood’s final note, and a list of websites and videos available online is also included.