Everything has changed since Annie Lee Fitzgerald's father died two months ago.  Not only did the 11-year-old and her mom have to move to a tiny apartment in a rundown neighborhood, but now that her mom is working full-time as a housekeeper, Annie Lee is on her own a lot more.  Despite cutting costs in every possible way, they are still barely making ends meet.  The constant struggle just adds to the overwhelming grief that already looms between them.

Despite her father's absence, there are things that haven't changed.  The bathroom still smells like his aftershave, the radio plays his favorite music, there's stubble in the sink every morning, and the coffeemaker sometimes brews his preferred brand of coffee—even though no one buys it anymore.  Annie Lee's getting used to these strange things, so she's not all that surprised when she notices more magic while she's listening to an old man playing the piano at the mall.  It seems like a sign, maybe even from her dead father, that Annie Lee needs to go back to the lessons she abandoned long ago.  When she learns about a piano competition that pays out a significant prize, she persuades the elderly pianist to teach her.

As Annie Lee attends her clandestine piano lessons, loses herself in books, and gets to know a new friend, she starts to process her grief and even feel a little bit of hope.  When an emergency threatens to blow everything apart, however, she has to make a choice that could ruin everything.

Beginners Welcome, a new middle grade novel by Cindy Baldwin, covers a lot of territory, so it's tough to describe its plot.  In fact, the story's more episodic than tightly told, which makes it seem unfocused at time.  Nevertheless, it features warm, likable characters; an engaging storyline; and solid prose.  While magical realism, even lightly sprinkled, isn't always my favorite, it worked for me in this case, giving the story an extra punch to make it more memorable.  I also appreciate that although this novel deals with some tough subjects, it remains upbeat and hopeful throughout.  While I didn't end up absolutely loving this heartfelt novel, I did enjoy it.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin as well as other middle grade grief novels, although no specific titles are coming to mind.)

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Beginners Welcome from the generous folks at HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

Later nicknamed "The Southern Titanic," the luxury steamship Pulaski left Charleston, South Carolina, bound for Baltimore on June 14, 1838.  Her passengers were wealthy, well-heeled, and wholly unaware of the tragedy they were about to be a part of.  When a boiler explosion on board destroyed the ship that night, the vessel sunk in just 45 minutes, leaving about 128 people dead.  The others were stranded on the water, forced to endure hunger, thirst, exposure, terror, and illness before being rescued.  Only 59 people survived.  In January 2018, 180 years after Pulaski sank, divers found the wreckage of the doomed ship.

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan (available March 9) brings the event to life in a dual-timeline novel that explores the sinking and its aftermath in an intriguing blend of fact and fiction.  The story features Everly Winthrop, a modern-day history professor who is asked to help curate an exhibit of Pulaski artifacts for a Savannah museum.  Still reeling from the death of her best friend a year ago, she finds purpose in studying the famous ship and her elite passengers.  She's especially intrigued by the story of a large family of passengers—some members died in the tragedy, some survived, and others' fates remain unknown.  Everly wants to change that.  As she investigates in the present, the reader taken back to 1838 where they're introduced to Lilly Forsyth, an abused aristocratic wife who's forced to make impossible decisions when Pulaski sinks, giving her an unexpected chance at freedom.  What does Lilly choose?  And how does her life change because of it?  What happens to her after the Pulaski sinks?

I had never heard of the Pulaski, so I learned a lot about the ship and its tragic end from Surviving Savannah.  The dual-timeline format is one I always enjoy.  As per usual, I found myself more invested in the past story than in the present one, although both had enough meat to keep me interested.  Even though the historical characters didn't get enough development, I still found them to be a likable, sympathetic lot.  Same goes for the present cast, although I didn't love Everly, who's just too victim-y for me.  I'm all for a sympathy-inducing lead, but I get impatient with too much wallowing—a character has to be at least a little bit selfless for me to really care about them.  Plot-wise, Surviving Savannah moves along at a steady pace, which kept me turning pages.  As for its storytelling, Callahan's prose gets heavy-handed at times (Everly's dialogue, for instance, often feels too formal and flowery). Still, I enjoyed this novel for its colorful historical backdrop, its engrossing story, its intriguing characters, and its capable (if at times overblown) writing. If you like dual-timeline novels about little-known historical events, definitely check this one out. 

When Arthur and Maeve Vergennes bought their home on an isolated inlet of the Chesapeake Bay, an old oyster boat came with the property.  They christened the grounded vessel Nepenthe.  Over the years, Arthur has used it to teach his nine children some of the discipline he gained while serving with the Navy in Korea.  Not only has it served as an elaborate playground for the kids, but through their many imaginary voyages they have formed themselves into a tight crew that values duty, dedication, and their father's family-first approach to life. 

Unlike her 14-year-old sister, who's grown embarrassed by the childish doings on Nepenthe, 18-year-old Verity still spends a lot of her time entertaining her younger siblings by planning and executing daring escapades.  Lately, though, she's feeling the weight of her responsibility.  Unbeknownst to her parents, she's applied to an out-of-state school.  She knows her father—who values family over everything else and intends for her to live at home while attending a local community college—will see it as a betrayal.  Especially since Verity's older brother, Jude, has already abandoned them.  Between Arthur's unwillingness to let her go and her mother's newest pregnancy, which is becoming increasingly worrisome, Verity feels trapped between duty to her family and her desire for a life of her own.  When tragedy strikes, she starts to realize just how alone she and her siblings really are.  Can they keep the family together when everything around them is falling apart?  Can the teamwork that unites them on Nepenthe save them as things go hopelessly awry?  If family love is supposed to cradle you in its protective arms, why does Verity feel like she's being suffocated by the very people who are supposed to love her most?

There's a lot to love about The Family Ship, the newest novel by Sonja Yoerg.  The idea of an old ship as both playground and school is a fun one.  The warm, large-family chaos described in the book rings true, especially for someone who's part of a big brood, like me.  I definitely relate to Verity's plight.  While Arthur's a complicated character, his dedication to his family makes him admirable, if not always understandable.  His wife is unrealistically angelic (I mean, c'mon, no stay-at-home mom adores all of her children every second of every day) but still likable.  While the kids all kind of blend together at times (which is true-to-life in a large clan), they have distinct personalities which make them feel like a believable bunch.  Their story involves some tough subject matter, but overall it's a hopeful tale, something I always appreciate in a family saga.  

My biggest problem with The Family Ship is that it drags on and on and on without really going anywhere.  I kept checking how far I'd read and being shocked when my Kindle said only "30%" or "47%."  Although the action picks up toward the end of the book, the story definitely drags and gets dull.  So, even though I enjoyed being enveloped in the Vergennes' lively household, I still wanted their tale to be more dynamic and exciting.  It's compelling, don't get me wrong.  It just takes Yoerg a loooonnnggg time to tell it.  In the end, then, I liked The Family Ship, but its wordiness and lack of plot made reading it more of a slog than it should have been.  Bummer.  I really wanted to love this one.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little bit of The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch)