Louisa (Lou, then Lu) is about to turn eleven, and her mom is about to marry Steve from church, and then Lou, her mom, and her older sister Casey will move to Steve's house in the suburbs. Lou is not excited about any of these changes: she still hopes her dad will change and come back to them (he's an alcoholic who hasn't lived with the family for years). Lou is devastated at leaving her best friend Beth Tsai, and Casey too hates the idea of leaving the city, her school, her friends, and her boyfriend Daniel. The mystery gift of a new guitar eases Lou's transition somewhat; she believes it's from her dad, and that if she learns to play, he will see her. Steve's neighbors Marcus and Shannon are lifesavers for Lu and Casey, respectively, and Marcus helps Lu learn the guitar so she can participate in the talent show with her new friend Kyra.

A Song Called Home is a book about changes and transitions, and it faces alcoholism face-on; Kyra's mom Meg is a recovered alcoholic as well, who has honest discussions with Lu, and Casey begins to attend Alateen.

See also: A Soft Place to Land by Janae Marks

Quotes

She didn't need a new [dad]. She just wanted the one she had to be different. (7)

She understood what she was supposed to think and believe, but that wasn't the same thing as thinking and believing those things. (35)

When you prayed and prayed and prayed for help and nothing changed, did you just give up? Maybe that was something adults knew. When to keep trying, and when to give up and move on. (59)

"I'm doing it wrong."
"No, you're learning. There's a difference." (Lu and Marcus, 169)

Why should she let that voice tell her how to be, when it belonged to someone who wasn't any good at being what he was supposed to be? (294)

No one knew how to do anything until they learned it. (303)

"Don't you want to see him?"
"I don't know. Sometimes I think I do, but then he's never what I want him to be." (Lu and Casey, 333) ( )

I felt for fifth-grader Lou (also known as Lu) every time she pocketed someone else’s property, I don’t know much about the compulsion to steal but I very much understood that this kid was hurting, the author made Lu’s emotional struggles apparent, not only in those moments of thievery but throughout this story, as she faces moving away from the only home she’s ever known, navigating a new school, a new stepdad, distance from her best friend, and more difficult than anything, the absence of her alcoholic father.

I loved the relationship between Lu and her older sister Casey, they don’t get along perfectly (what siblings do?) but the love is never in doubt, and their misbehavior, their bonding, and especially their reactions to their father as well as to the presence of alcohol at a party all came across with plenty of honesty and heart. ( )

Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children’s Books for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This is the kind of book that will resonate with many readers (young and older) including those who have an alcoholic parent, who have had to move to a new school and make new friends mid-term, gaining a stepparent, and growing more independent as she develops her own identity. Fifth grader Lou experiences all these things, while acknowledging a sense of loss and hope and new beginnings.

Zarr poignantly describes Lou's longing for her dad, for home, for her family to be whole. "That feeling of waiting and waiting for the next bad thing to happen and trying to be good so that it didn't. It was a feeling Lou had almost her whole life, so much that when it started to fade after Dad left, after the divorce, it seemed like something was missing." Throughout the novel Lou feels like something is missing. What makes this novel special is Lou's voice - she is so honest about her feelings that I could easily understand her longing and her fears. I'm sure these are the same feelings that many readers have about moving, changing, learning about themselves.

Zarr smoothly incorporates Lou's inner thoughts with the everyday moments of her life - visiting the neighbors, spending time with her best friend and making new friends, comparing her old and new teacher/school, getting to know her stepfather, quiet bedtime chats with her mom, her interactions with her older sister.

While many of the topics of this novel are "heavy," Zarr skillfully writes from a middle grade perspective so this book is totally appropriate for younger readers. And Lou's relationship with her older sister brings another dimension to the story that anyone with a sibling will appreciate. I enjoyed the give and take between the sisters as they both dealt with their individual emotions.

I'm an enthusiastic fan of Sara Zarr's and couldn't wait to read this book from the time I first heard about it. In the interest of full disclosure, I have known Sara since she was a fifth grader, just like Lou. I hope my five star rating encourages you to read this powerful yet sensitive story of a young girl learning about what makes a family. ( )