Beginners Welcome
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Publisher Description
The acclaimed author of Where the Watermelons Grow is back with a story perfect for fans of Lynda Mullaly Hunt and Ali Benjamin, about finding friendship after a tragic loss.
It’s been eighty-three days since Annie Lee’s daddy died, but she still sees reminders of him everywhere. His record player mysteriously plays his favorite songs, there’s shaving cream in the sink every morning, and the TV keeps flipping to the Duke basketball games he loved.
She knows Mama notices it too, but Mama’s been working around the clock to make ends meet. To make matters worse, Annie Lee’s friends ditched her over the summer. She feels completely alone—until she meets Mitch.
Though Mitch is tough and confident on the outside, she may need a friend just as badly as Annie Lee. But after losing so much, Annie Lee is afraid to let anyone get too close.
And Mitch isn’t the only friend trying to break through Annie Lee’s defenses. Ray, an elderly pianist who plays at a local mall, has been giving her piano lessons. His music is pure magic, and Annie Lee hopes it might be the key to healing her broken heart. But when Ray goes missing, searching for him means breaking a promise to Mitch.
Faced with once again losing those who mean the most to her, Annie Lee must make a choice: retreat back into her shell, or risk admitting how much she needs Mitch and Ray—even if it means getting hurt all over again.
Just like in her debut, Where the Watermelons Grow, Cindy Baldwin brings her signature twist of magic to this authentically heartfelt story.
A Whitney Award finalist
An AML Award finalist
What will it take for a girl who’s lost so much to learn how to let people in?
Dealing with Grief: Annie Lee’s world shattered when her daddy died. Now, mysterious reminders of him keep appearing, making it almost impossible to move on.Making New Friends: After her old friends disappear, she meets Mitch—a tough skater girl who might need a friend just as much as she does.The Healing Power of Music: When she meets Ray, an elderly pianist at the mall, his magical music offers a glimmer of hope for her broken heart.A Heartfelt Mystery: Just as Annie Lee starts to trust Ray, he vanishes without a trace, forcing her to risk everything to find him.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixth grader Annie Lee Fitzgerald has done her absolute best to become invisible in the 83 days following her music-loving father's unexpected death. After all, "invisible people couldn't be seen, and people who couldn't be seen couldn't be hurt." Despite her anxious mother's working long hours at Mary's Maids, the bereft family struggles to make ends meet. During afternoons alone, Annie Lee secretly steals away from "old and falling-down" neighborhood North Durham to Brightleaf Square, a bright mall in a former tobacco warehouse, where an elderly gentleman plays the piano for passersby. Drawn by his magical music, which sparks emotion-tinged colors that people can see "when they need them," Annie Lee forms a friendship with the pianist, Ray, and she begins piano lessons with him, hoping to win a cash prize. When she's again faced with losing someone she loves, Annie Lee must decide whether to shrug off her carefully constructed invisibility. Intermingling themes of grief and loss with moments of unexpected, joyful connection, Baldwin (Where the Watermelons Grow) depicts character growth with particular grace, especially Annie Lee's relationship with her mother, which shifts and evolves as the two navigate their new relationship without Annie Lee's father. Ages 8 12.
