I know that listening to this on audio affected my opinion, so I feel like I can't compare this fairly to other Newbery contenders. The audio production is great, and I liked how they used different narrators. The music added a lot, though I wasn't a fan of the narrators' singing. Hardest for me was the fact that it takes me so long to get invested in a story on audio, so to start with brand-new stories three times was almost more than I could take. 
 I did like the storytelling, the history, and the music. The ending is lovely, though unlikely. I could've done without the magical elements. Mainly, I don't think this has a lot of kid appeal, though it would possibly be a good read-aloud for 4th-5th graders.