Reviews - A Duet for Home | The StoryGraph

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216 reviews for:

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing the E-ARC.

The Model Minority Myth is very much real, and I thought that this is a well-needed book that depicts what Asian-American children might go through with immigrant parents. Within the Asian community, you’re taught to stay within your own family and be silent. But I like to see the courage that June has.

The only criticisms that I have of this book is that I thought that the ending might have been too perfect. However, I do like the idea of June standing and speaking up. Additionally, I thought that some parts of the novel went a little slow. It felt a lot like slice-of-life and wished that it could’ve been more fast-paced.

shandawarren's review

5.0

Loved this middle grade! And learned something in the mix.

librariandest's review

3.0

As an adult reader, this felt very didactic to me. Like when Tyrell overheard the "slick voice" man talking about his dastardly plans to move families out of the shelter faster (p. 99) I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out of my head. It was like a scene from Scooby-Doo. I also didn't like that Tyrell's mom seemed like a stereotype of a lazy welfare mom. I read another review that pointed out that this book has attractive virtuous characters and unattractive evil characters (e.g. Ms. G = attractive/good; MacVillain = unattractive/bad) which again plays into stereotypes.

But I think many young readers will learn something new about homelessness from this book and be drawn into the injustice/activism angle (though it does take a while for the plot to get going). I liked that the characters had more going on than just being homeless (a shared love of classical music). The audiobook had dual narrators for June and Tyrell and both were good.

If you're looking for other books for middle-grade readers about homelessness, I suggest [b:Paper Things|22747802|Paper Things|Jennifer Richard Jacobson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415586683l/22747802._SX50_.jpg|42292738] and [b:Crenshaw|23310699|Crenshaw|Katherine Applegate|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475972698l/23310699._SX50_.jpg|42864821] and [b:No Fixed Address|37683441|No Fixed Address|Susin Nielsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518441561l/37683441._SY75_.jpg|59311826].

jadatrack's review

4.25

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

treylaura's review

5.0

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

jennicajackson's review

3.75

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

evaseyler's review

I devoured this yesterday while the kids were at school and my 12yo is listening to it now. An absolute delight of a book.

katiec0303's review

5.0

I can see why this book is nominated for the Utah Beehive Award for 2024. Ugh! This book really tugged at the heartstrings. It's not every time that you love all the characters in a book. I loved all the characters. June, oh June...the maturity of this young girl is astounding. Her resilience is incredible. I learned so much from June on how to take a horrible situation and continue to work and try and look for the good. I can't say enough about this book. I loved it!