Beginners Welcome

Annie Lee lost her father three months ago, but she and her mother still smell his aftershave and find his whiskers in the sink every morning, and the phonograph turns itself on playing his favorite music even after they move from their house. Annie Lee’s mother works non-stop trying to make ends meet, and Annie Lee has to go to a new middle school where she knows no one. Annie Lee tries to be invisible, but a girl named Mitch befriends her. After school some days, Annie Lee takes her scooter and goes around town, one day finding a man playing piano in a mall, and the music is so beautiful she can see it. She asks him to teach her to play, which he agrees to. But when he goes missing, Annie Lee has some hard choices to make.

Cindy Baldwin has followed up her brilliant debut novel, Where the Watermelons Grow, with an equally affecting story. The character of Annie Lee will grab readers’ hearts and have them rooting for her the whole way. The writing is gorgeous and the voice pitch-perfect for a middle-school girl. This deserves readership far beyond its intended audience.