| Title: | Song and Dance |
| Author: | Mindy Peterman |
| Printed: | October 1998 Berkley/Boulevard |
| ISBN #: | 0-425-16577-9 |
| Leap Date: | September 25, 1978 |
| Cover: | Stephen
Gardner |
| Pages: |
241 |
Novel
Adopted
by:  |
|
New York City, New York
Sam leaps into the body of a hopeful dancer's son, who must overcome terrible self-confidence issues, find his mother's missing dance partner, and unveil the terrible secret overshadowing his employer.
Sam has leapt into Noah Ellman, a young man who has gone through a divorce and is getting back on his feet. Sam isn’t really there to help Noah though. He is there to help Noah’s mother, Gerda, who is going to dance on the “You Can Be a Star” talent search with a young man she calls Marty, who turns out to be someone Sam knows. On this leap, he also discovers Rebecca Wexler, the young vocal coach his host has just started working for, needs help so he has that to deal with making things right for her.
Summary & review by Dermot Devlin of the former quantumleaping.com:
In this book Sam leaps into Noah Ellmanin the year 1978. His mother in this leap is Gerda Ellman, a delightful woman who has ambitions of becoming a dancing success story in her autumn. Her dance partner is a young man by the name of Marty that Sam has to track down, because in the original history Marty didn't turn up for a televised talent contest that Gerda and Marty had entered. Gerda was shattered by his none-appearance and died a two years later. Ziggy figured this was because Marty's non-appearance left Gerda heart broken.
Sam had started to work for Rebecca Wexler, doing her accounts and paper work for her. Sam realised that Rebecca was a troubled young woman and did not know why. Although this was not part of Sam's leap mission, he wanted to try and discover her problem and see if he can help her. Al was dissatisfied with this because it interfered with Sam's original task.
To make matters worst, Gooshie was seriously stressed about something back at Project Quantum Leap and would not open up to Al as to what was wrong. As a result of this, Gooshie couldn't the pressure and left Project Quantum Leap for a limited period of time. Although Gooshie was owed a holiday, it still worried Al because Gooshie was never interested holiday. He liked to spend his time with Ziggy.
Because of this bond that Gooshie and Ziggy had, Ziggy went on strike back at Project Quantum Leap and would not assist Al in helping Sam. Ziggy wouldn't come off strike until Gooshie returns. This give Al an extra headache, as he now had to track down Gooshie to discover what was wrong and to get him to tell Ziggy to come off the strike.
Although this book had a great deal of potential, I did not feel it lived up to it. In areas where you wanted to the story to move quickly, it read at a snail's pace. It areas in which you wanted to pace itself, it hurried itself too much.
A lot of the great twists in this book, such as what was wrong with Rebecca and what Marty's identity is, did not come to any great surprise. I was able to tell from the start what the twists were. I am not good at detective novels, so by no greats means am I good at solving things like this. It could have been more concealed with the "tiny" clues.
In saying that, I did enjoy the book. Once the identity of Marty was discovered and what Rebecca's problem, the book became a lot more interesting. Come to this point and I did find it hard to put the book down. In conclusion I would say it is a good read for real Quantum Leap fans, but for someone else who was looking for any book to read, it might not come to much interest to them.
Place
Brooklyn, NY
Name of Person Leaped Into
Noah Ellman
Project Trivia
Gooshie is taking some personal time.
Ziggy decides to go on strike.
Sam Trivia
We get a glimpse of Sam’s dancing ability. He
remembers playing at Carnegie Hall and remembers bits about his family.
Al Trivia
Al likes kugel (a Jewish casserole or pudding usually made from egg
noodles or potatoes, although it can be prepared using other
ingredients).
We hear a bit about Al’s ex-wife,
Ruthie.
Al is familiar with Brooklyn, New York.
Al likes Las Vegas.
He has a Ferrari.
He wears red shoes and a scarlet fedora.
Miscellaneous Trivia
We get a glimpse into Gooshie’s college days before he started working
on the project. The Americanization of
Machiko and A Hunting We Will Go are mentioned. Nicole
from Catch A Falling Star is mentioned.
Writers
Mindy Peterman
Copyright Date
October 1998
Leap Date
September 25, 1978
Regular Characters
Sam, Al, Ziggy.
Guest Characters
At the Project: Gooshie, Tina, Donna and
Beeks. During the Leap:
Gerda Ellman, Marty (who turns out to be someone important
to the Project) and Rebecca Wexler.
Guest character notes
Gerda Ellman is a talented dancer and singer who is supposed to compete
in the “So You Want To Be a Star” talent search-That is, if her
partner, Marty, shows up. Rebecca Wexler
is a young woman who is dealing with some personal trauma, and Sam can
see almost right away she needs help.
Characters who appeared in
QL TV episodes
The only guest character in the leap that appeared in the T.V. episodes
is Gooshie, AKA Marty. Supporting
characters at the Project (Tina, Gooshie, Donna and Beeks) are
mentioned in several episodes and seen in The Leap Back, Genesis, Star
Crossed and Shock Theater.
Personal Review
This is a well-written, entertaining story that explores the past of
someone who only had a supporting role on the show-Gooshie. The author has a good understanding of the
characters. I really liked having more
information on someone we only saw in a few episodes, and the plot is
believable and engaging. Who’d have
thought Gooshie was a good dancer? I liked the way the author raises
the question of whether changing the past of someone connected with the
Project for the better might change the Project for the worse.
Fortunately things turn out the way they are supposed to.
Best Line
(Al realizing where he is after finding Gooshie): This
is a bordello! Gooshie’s holed up in a
house of…sin.
Best Scene
The best scene has to be when Al tracks Gooshie to the…house of sin. Gooshie being at a bordello was pretty
hilarious and it was classic Al. Gooshie
being able to see Al at the club during the leap is a riot. The idea of Ziggy going on strike and the
dialogue between Al and Ziggy was funny too.
Say What?
I was a little puzzled about the state of Gerda
and Gooshie’s relationship at the end. They
were obviously still together, but did they
get married? Were
they boyfriend and girlfriend?
It wasn’t a big deal; I don’t think a novel
necessarily has to answer every question, but I wasn’t real clear on
that.
Quotable Quotes
(At the Club Air)
Al: Gooshman,
this is your conscience….I’m not hanging around here for my health.
(After Ziggy confirms Rebecca needs
Sam’s help)
Sam: Sometimes I’m right.
Al: Yeah,
sometimes you sure as hell are.
Al: Ziggy, one of your oars is not in
the boat.
ISBN Number
0-425-16577-9
Author’s Notes
There aren’t any notes other than acknowledgments; there isn’t any
information about at what point in the T.V. series this leap happened. A Hunting We Will Go is mentioned
so it is after that leap.
Info about author
Mindy has a twitter account, @Mindy_Peterman, and writes articles for
digitaljournal.com, Blogcritics.org and The Morton Report.
 |
Download a FREE PDF copy of this Quantum Leap novel by clicking the download icon to your left! Thanks to our friends Ann Marie Marvin, Matt Dale & Adrian Salerno for providing these to Quantum Leap fans and Al's Place! |
Back to top