The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane by Kate O'Shaughnessy

The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane

by Kate O'Shaughnessy

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.

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on

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I enjoyed Maybelle's journey to find her courage and discover her place in her new town. The story didn't ended up quite the way I anticipated. I love the fact that not everything ended the way Maybelle wanted to and she had to cope with disappointment. It made the story feel more real to me.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Reading updates

  • 1 January, 2020: Started reading
  • 3 January, 2020: Finished reading
  • 3 January, 2020: Reviewed