Excellent book touching on topics of blending families, an alcoholic parent, moving/changing schools, friendship and the concept of family. Louisa is not thrilled with her mom’s marriage to Steve and her sister Casey is really struggling with it, but off they go to a new home in a town outside their school district. Adjusting to having a new “dad” figure is complicated by the fact that her own dad is an alcoholic who still drinks and is not a real part of her life. A mysterious birthday gift of a guitar, new neighbors, solving friendship hiccups and more blend together making this a relatable book for grades 4-7 with messages of hope, friendship and family. Text is free of profanity, sexual content and violence but may be triggering for some who deal with alcoholism in their family. Representation: diverse family configurations; regular church-going and faith in God is portrayed in a positive but not preachy way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Sweet story of finding joy in new situations and learning from hard things. Main character was liikeable and realistic.

Well-written middle grade novel that will be enjoyed by many realistic fiction readers! Lou is facing a lot - her mom getting married, moving to a new house and school, her older sister growing into a teenager. Through it all, she is driven by a guitar that is left for her. This is a story of facing life changes head on and finding an outlet for feelings when we aren’t sure what are feelings are telling us.

I had mixed feelings about this one. I liked the familial relationships and how they strengthened over the course of the book, especially Lou's relationship with Steve. Lou was a likeable character that I was cheering for.
I didn't particularly like the religion aspect of it. It seemed off and just thrown in at times.

The "adjusting to your step-parent" narrative feels like a bit of a throw-back but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. A novel is a solid way for a kid to process major life changes. This one is a solid, if predictable read. Solid characters. It's not always comfortable to read but worth the time.

A middle grade story that should be read in class and abs outside of class! There are some harsh story lines including alcoholism and moving to a new place at a young age. There were heavy feelings portrayed that any 11 year old dealing with these things would feel. The theme of change is strong from start to finish.

This one was quiet, tender, and like a little piece of life I got to watch for myself. Don't wait for sparkling climaxes with this one. Settle in to feel like family, and watch just a beautiful glimpse of one girl opening up to the possibilities of a new-built family. Learning to trust and hope in a time that has left everything forever different is a hard lesson, and you'll love experiencing this one.

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.

11 year old Lou faces a lot of tough issues in this book - moving away from her beloved home, school and best friend, an unreliable, alcoholic, but much loved father, adjusting to a new home with her mom & stepfather, an older teenaged sister going through all of this and more. The book is written with great empathy and kindness, it’s lovely to see how the core characters help each other through the challenges facing them. A great title for any middle school student. Thanks to the author, publisher & NetGalley for a preview copy.

A really deft, lovely handling of multiple different, significant issues through the eyes of a narrator whose flaws don't outweigh her clear and sensitive perspective. Lu's relationship with her father and her feelings about her family's financial circumstances are particularly well-portrayed and complex, and the pacing of Lu's growing relationship with Steve was perfect. I did feel as if the plotlines about Lu's stealing, her feelings about God/religion, and her friendships both with Beth and Kyra might have been emotionally clearer, but there is an element of realism to the muddled feelings and tapering momentum that felt true as well. A perfect book for readers whose own lives include alcoholism, new family structure, financial struggles, or big changes, or anyone who's looking for a story that is both hard and hopeful.

A Song Called Home is a realistic, heartrending depiction of the process of blending a family while dealing with the trauma of having an alcoholic parent. This book centers a girl who's coming of age even as her family seems to be evolving before her eyes. Excellently written with well-drawn characters who feel familiar and relatable, this one is going to be loved by readers young and old alike. If you like books about sisters, family, community, and music, pick this up ASAP.

A Song Called Home is a gentle story of Lou, a fifth grader whose life has been rocked by her father’s alcoholism and her parents’ divorce, and now her mother’s remarriage has rocked her life again. Lou, her sister Casey, and her mother have built a life for themselves after the divorce., and while it is far from perfect, they are making it. When Mom marries Steve, her too-new boyfriend, they move from the city to Steve’s house in the suburbs, forcing Lou and Casey to leave their neighborhood, their schools, their friends, their lives. As they struggle to find their footing in their new lives, Lou learns more about her dad, her mom, and Steve. When she learns that her assumptions have been wrong, she has to decide whether to open her mind to her new life, or burrow deeper into her hurt and fear.

Sara Zarr has written a quiet story about a strong girl who braves the life she has been given. While Lou longs for the stability and ease of her best friend’s life, she courageously faces a new school, new classmates, and new challenges. With strength and resilience, she opens her heart to Steve, his neighbors Marcus and Shannon, and her classmate Kyra, who desperately needs a friend.. Lou, or Lu, as she remakes herself, is an example for all readers who face obstacles and hurdles that have to be overcome. I would caution parents and other "gatekeepers" that the story includes a non-binary fifth grader named Jase, who goes by they/ them. For me, this is a concern because the story contains so many weighty topics that should be felt and contemplated and discussed. They need the space and attention in and of themselves. Adding another weighty and controversial topic could make some parents opt out of this story, even though it is such a valuable and necessary story. Having Jase be in fifth grade, rather than junior high or high school creates a topic that some parents and some children will want to avoid.

As a story, Zarr’s plot is perfectly paced, giving readers the chance to know the characters without lagging. Thematically, Zarr gives middle graders a story that gives hope and encouragement, showing that change can be good, if you can open your heart to its possibilities.

I adore unique fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world.

A Song Called Home is the story of a girl who goes by a variety of names, Lou being one of them. She is currently navigating a change in her family's dynamics. Her dad left due to being an alcoholic. Her mom is remarrying, so she has a stepdad now. She also has an older sister. There were definitely some strengths and weaknesses to this book. I felt like there were a lot of topics and themes in this book. Readers will probably be able to relate to at least one of them. Rich discussions could happen as well.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Zarr really captures the confusion, the anxiety, the heartache — and the love — that come with being a child of an alcoholic, especially the way she shows each of the girls managing their feelings in different ways. I think Lou is complex and messy and perfect, all at the same time. I did struggle with the intense amount of Christianity in the book, so much that it felt like it was preaching at me at times. It may not feel that way to everyone though.

I loved this realistic fiction story about 5th grader Lou (aka Louisa) who is unhappy about moving from the only apartment she's ever known in San Francisco to suburban Pacifica when her mom remarries. Even though her stepdad seems FINE, she doesn't want to leave her school, her friends, and the chance that her alcoholic dad might stop in to say hello. A poignant and relatable story that takes you on an emotional roller coaster as Louisa (and her high school sister and mom) adjust to being a new kind of "we." I especially liked the realistic portrayal of the ups and downs of her relationship with her sister. Highly recommend it for fans of 'sad' stories like Counting by 7s or Mockingbird or kids who have dealt with divorce/remarriage/moving.

5 stars

As an incoming fan of Sara Zarr's, I had high expectations; they were exceeded.

Louisa, who has a number of nicknames, is the complex main character of this novel. Her heart is breaking, and yours will, too. When readers meet Lou, she is in the thick of some serious changes. Her parents are divorced, but her mom is now about to marry Steve, who proposed to her on the third date (!!!). As a result, Lou will be moving out of the apartment she has lived in with her mother and sister (Casey, who is an amazing inclusion and needs a book of her own) since she was a baby. On top of these major changes, Lou's dad is an alcoholic, and every adult reader will hold their breaths when this guy is mentioned let alone when he appears. He is a piece of work. Lou is in fifth grade, so her life is filled with typical drama and changes on top of the aforementioned profusion of chaos.

Lou's internal and environmental struggles are constant, engaging, and relatable for every reader who will minimally know someone who... if they have not experienced these issues themselves. Throughout the novel, Lou is on the edge, and one of the many great assets Zarr reveals is HOW Lou's emotions and struggles manifest.

Running a close second on my list of absolute favorite choices here is the cast of secondary folks. I wanted to have a serious talking to with Lou and Casey's mom, but she's also had it rough, and almost every other character makes up for some of her shortcomings.

For about the first quarter of the novel, I was sold on the notion that this was going to be a good middle grade text, but around that mark - and all the way through to the end - it really found a rightful place as EXCELLENT. Zarr masterfully packs in so many issues, including but not limited to socioeconomic struggles, housing insecurity, alcoholism, blended families, divorce, friendships, relationships, un/healthy adult/child interactions, forgiveness, and honesty, and somehow manages to maintain an engaging and never didactic tone. I remain a super fan of this author and look forward to enthusiastically recommending this one to students and beyond.

A good book for teens who are dealing with being the kids of divorced parent as well as parents getting remarried. And other issues that come with that.

A Song Called Home follows Lou, a fifth-grader whose Mom is getting remarried to Steve, who she's been dating for a year after having divorced Lou's father, an alcoholic, two years prior. Both she and her 15-year-old sister Casey are against this; it will mean leaving the apartment where they've lived all of their lives, leaving the city to move to the suburbs, and leaving their school and all of their friends. On her birthday, she receives a guitar that she assumes to be from her father, who she only rarely has contact with, and decides to learn to play it to impress him.

I absolutely adored this book. Lou feels real and complex and like an actual 11 year old who is just trying to cope with her entire life changing. She's sweet and loves her mom and sister and doesn't fully understand what's happening with the adults around her sometimes. She's been through a lot of trauma related to her father's alcoholism, which leads to her dissociating frequently, as well as some amount of kleptomania; while I can't speak to the representation of the dissociation, it was treated very naturally. She definitely needs some sort of therapy though, so I'd like to imagine that she gets that after the book ends.

Lou's relationships with her family members were some of the most interesting aspects of the book. She and Casey, while going through the same experience, respond to it very differently (likely largely driven by the age difference between them), and their parallel character development is done very well. Lou looks up to her sister a lot, so Casey's actions have a large impact on her own growth. Lou's relationship with her mom, while not perfect, is definitely one of the largest sources of stability in her life. Her growing relationship with Steve, her stepfather, is particularly intriguing, especially since it is very representative of her adjustment to all of the change in her life as a whole. The progression of that relationship is done very well and feels completely natural. Lou's relationship with her own father is more complicated, since, because he's only there for a couple scenes in the book, it is mostly her engaging with her idea of him, and particularly with her idea of what she wishes he were like, and over the course of the book she gradually has to come to terms with the fact that she can't force him to change and that hoping he'll become the idealized parent that she envisions in her head isn't healthy for her, which is another evolution that Zarr develops very well.

The book is primarily dealing with the idea of change; it is present in every aspect of the plot. It's a story of a young girl figuring out how to react and adapt to large changes in her life that she can't control, and learning how to adjust to a life that is significantly different from that which she's always had. As somebody who has a large fear of change myself, I empathized a lot with Lou in that aspect, and a lot of the parts that were particularly painful for her in that aspect felt painful to me too. That fear and Lou's learning how to deal with it was absolutely my favorite part of the book, and is what I believe to be the most well-written aspect of it.

Additionally, despite the book dealing with a lot of heavy topics, most notably Lou's father's alcoholism and its effects on her, it is ultimately heartwarming and uplifting.

I honestly can't think of a single bad thing to say about this book; I adored reading it. The pacing was perfect, the structure worked wonderfully, the characters were lovable, and I don't have a single complaint.

I'm giving this book an enthusiastic five stars. I would recommend A Song Called Home to anybody of any age who loves character-driven stories or just wants to read a wonderfully-written contemporary book about change. It's a poignant story of a fifth-grader learning how to cope with change and adjust to a new environment. The progression of the book feels very natural, and the reader is empathizing with and rooting for Lou every step of the way. It's about creating new families and new friendships and embracing changes that happen for the better, as well as accepting and letting go of that which you can't control; it's amazing and I can't recommend it enough.