'THE SONG READER' | A review A finely tuned tale of hidden meanings

The story is narrated by a confused teenager.
By THERESA M. HEGEL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
"The Song Reader" by Lisa Tucker (Downtown Press, $12)
Ever wonder why certain songs and snatches of melody get stuck in your head? Sometimes the source is obvious. It's a tune you just heard on the radio or on a TV commercial, or maybe it's just a song you really like.
Sometimes, however, the songs seem untraceable. A handful of obscure lyrics or an elusive string of notes gets caught in a loop in the back of your mind, and it won't go away. You have a hard time identifying the song and an even harder one getting it out of your internal jukebox.
In "The Song Reader," first-time novelist Lisa Tucker explores the hidden meaning of mental melodies.
Tucker, who was born in the Midwest, received graduate degrees in English and math from the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova University respectively. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in a number of publications, including The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Narrated by the perceptive, though confused, teen Leeann, the "The Song Reader," set in a small Southern town in the 1980s, focuses on her older sister Mary Beth and her unique talent. In between waiting tables at the local diner and caring for her adopted son and Leeann, Mary Beth follows her true calling: song reading.
According to Leeann, the art of song reading and the term itself were invented by her sister. She describes it as "kind of like palm reading ... but instead of using hands, she used music to read people's lives."
Rise and fall
Based on customers' "song charts" -- lists of the songs customers report humming over the week, encoded to reflect whether they cry when they relate the songs, if they sing the lyrics, and if they remembered songs incorrectly -- Mary Beth is able to pinpoint and solve her clients' personal problems.
The grateful townspeople take her advice "to marry, to break it off with the low-life jerk, to take the new job, to confront their supervisor with how unfair he was" and repay her with cakes and stews and afghans, in addition to cash.
Business is brisk for the song reader until she reveals a secret that nobody in town is prepared to deal with. Her once faithful customers turn against her, and Mary Beth, who always seemed poised and competent to her younger sister, breaks down, forcing Leeann to grow up too soon as she tries to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.
During this trial, Leeann also uncovers a lie Mary Beth told her about their absent father. Mary Beth's betrayal and subsequent breakdown shake Leeann's confidence in her older sister, permanently altering the structure of their unconventional family.
The book is a bittersweet, though often funny, coming-of-age story, populated with complex, sympathetic characters. Tucker writes a moving tale, without saturating her words in sap. Though the idea of a professional song reader seems a bit far-fetched, the book is always rooted in the reality of interpersonal relationships.
With an engrossing plot and intriguing narrator, "The Song Reader" hits all the right notes.
hegel@vindy.com