Will a spelling bee be the answer to all of Bird's problems?

All her life, all Bird has ever wanted is to be noticed in her small town and to get to Disney World. As it turns out, Bird just might have a chance to realize at least one of her goals because of a state spelling bee, and she might get to make a friend along the way--a boy named Harlem Tate who has just moved to Freedom. Harlem seems like a kindred spirit--someone like Bird, whom people don't usually take the time to find the good in. (Unless it's someone like Miss Delphine, who always makes Bird feel special.) But...

Set in a trailer park called Paradise

"You're just wasting your God-given talents if you don't get yourself something besides a little ole harmonica to play." Wylene made it sound so easy. Martin had always like music -- liked to listen to it, liked to make up tunes in his head. But all he had to do was say the word "piano" to his father and all hell would break loose. His father thought music was for sissies, and was always mad at Martin for not being good at baseball. But with a lot of help from his friends Wylene and Sybil and his grandmother, Hazeline, Martin learns that,...