Last night, I finished reading A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser. This realistic fiction novel is about June Yang, a girl who has to move into a homeless shelter, Huey House, with her younger sister, Maybelle, after their their dad is killed in a car accident and their mom loses her job. Although Huey House seems like a jail at first, the head of security, Marcus, makes sure that June can keep her precious viola even though instruments are against the rules. The two sisters also meet Tyrell Chee, a boy who has been at Huey House for three years and has an interest in classical music, and his best friend Jeremiah. Through their friendship, June realizes that maybe Huey House can be a home for her family. As the autumn days go by, the kids learn of a government policy to force families to move out after only ninety days and decide it's up to them to save their home.
This story was absolutely amazing. Although I felt bad for June and her family at first when they had to move into Huey House, I enjoyed how they connected with the other families and grew to truly like the place. While I thought June deserved a chance to be a kid, she was a supportive older sister who looked after Maybelle when their mom couldn't bring herself to take care of them. I also adored the friendship that developed between June and Tyrell because of their shared interest in music and playing an instrument. It was really cool how Lulu's abuela talked to a neighbor, Domenika, about giving June viola lessons and then June used the opportunity to convince Domenika to also teach Tyrell. The emotional moments in this story were quite moving and my heart broke for both Tyrell and June because of the losses they experienced both before the book began and during the story. With that said, I loved the climax and it made me happy seeing that kids can make a difference. A Duet for Home is eye-opening into the issue of homelessness and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys music and/or stories of family and friendship.
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