A Song Called Home - by Sara Zarr (Hardcover)

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.