A Duet for Home
by Karina Yan Glaser
Intermediate    Clarion/HarperCollins    368 pp.   g
4/22    978-0-544-87640-8    $16.99
e-book ed.  978-0-358-69717-6    $9.99

Eleven-year-old June, an accomplished viola player; her little sister, Maybelle; and their mom land in Huey House, a family shelter in the Bronx, after they lose their apartment. There June meets Tyrell, a boy who loves listening to classical music and is a three-year resident of the shelter. Glaser (The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, rev. 11/17, and sequels) writes with warmth and understanding about the complexities of family housing instability. Chapters alternate between June’s and Tyrell’s points of view. Tyrell offers June a new community, and June brings music to Tyrell. The drama unfolds as the mayor’s proposed policy for ending homelessness actually threatens the children’s safety net, and the protagonists work together to convince the mayor to rethink her plan. With sympathetic characters, a satisfying ending, and young people who take strong action to help themselves and others, the novel is readable and engaging and provides a valuable glimpse into a complicated social issue.

From the July/August 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.