The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane

Maybelle Lane is looking for her father, but on the road to Nashville she finds so much more: courage, brains, heart--and true friends.

Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn't collect herself: an old recording of her daddy's warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone's voicemail. It's the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him.

Until the day she hears that laugh--his laugh--pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma's wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy's new show, drinking in every word like a plant leaning toward the sun. When he announces he'll be the judge of a singing contest in Nashville, she signs up. What better way to meet than to stand before him and sing with all her heart?

But the road to Nashville is bumpy. Her starch-stiff neighbor Mrs. Boggs offers to drive her in her RV. And a bully of a boy from the trailer park hitches a ride, too. These are not the people May would have chosen to help her, but it turns out they're searching for things as well. And the journey will mold them into the best kind of family--the kind you choose for yourself.

Author: Kate O'Shaughnessy
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published: 03/03/2020
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781984893833
Audience: 08 - 12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.4
Point Value: 9
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 511235 / Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2020 pg. 112
School Library Journal 02/01/2020 pg. 67
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2020
Shelf Awareness 03/13/2020

About the Author
KATE O'SHAUGHNESSY's love of reading and writing stories began in early childhood and only grew stronger. She has been a chef, earned a fellowship with the Yale Sustainable Food Program, and backpacked around the world. She and her husband live in Berkeley, CA. You can read more about her at kloshaughnessy.com and follow her on Twitter at @kloshaughnessy.