A Song for Two Homes

by Michael Datcher, Charly Palmer (illustrator)

From  the New York Times Bestselling author of Raising Fences and the  award-winning illustrator of Mama Africa!, comes a moving and lyrical picture book  about a girl navigating her parents' divorce, featuring a Black family, two homes, and whole lot of love.

Auset's parents tell her the divorce wasn't her fault, but she got split in two too. Now she has two homes, two rooms, two Christmases, and two birthday parties. It's tough to deal with her parents' divorce, but at least she has the songs of Sweet Honey and the Rock and Bob Marley to help her through. Plus, she has her therapist, and her stuffed animal Dolphie the Dolphin, who is an excellent listener.

With two loving parents doing their best, here is a look at Black families, divorce, and how difficult it is for kids to go through. But with time and support, and everyone doing their best to keep it real, there's healing and strength on the other side.

Genres: Picture Books, Divorce, Family, Music, Childrens, Juvenile, Emotion

40 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Michael Datcher, a journalist and spoken-word poet, has written for Vibe, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, and Buzz.
A former Pacific News Service correspondent, Michael Datcher has contributed essays to a number of anthologies.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auset, the young Black girl who narrates this picture book, feels torn between her mother and father after their divorce. Confused by their split and having to deal with two homes, she finds comfort in music, her stuffed dolphin, and knowing that both parents still love her. But it isn't always easy to be okay, especially since she often feels that her good grades and high scores or the total of all her numbers "Never adds up / To how bad / Division / Makes me feel" (unpaged). While she can keep things real with her father, she shelters her mother from how she really feels, and having two homes, two birthday celebrations, and two Christmases doesn't compensate for the loss of the family. The layered acrylic artwork is filled with movement and emotion while the text hums its way right into readers' hearts, providing reassurance that things will be okay even though they might never be the same. Plenty of youngsters will appreciate the honest emotions expressed by Auset in this picture book.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

POV from a young girl's perspective of how she copes with the divorce of her parents. She struggles to keep motivated and positive through the up and downs of the changes. She keeps a song in her heart and mind as she finds her self while living between two homes. A stark look at divorce and the heart break it brings along with the healing process.

[Annese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not expect to be hit in the feelings this hard. This story centers a child struggling with her parents divorce, and the ebb and flow of feeling okay verses NOT feeling okay. I definitely want to reread with the songs mentioned to see if the sway of emotion changes with each song. Chills.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

About a girl navigating her feelings about her parents divorce. That part was ok, but there was alot of other heavy stuff thrown into the book that made it feel crowded and jumbled, and took away from the main message of the book.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad young girl looks for comfort and support from the music of Bob Marley after her parent's divorce.

Lovely illustrations here. The text is a bit crowded but the emotions will resonate with children trying to navigate the same situation.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story about the struggles of a little girl amidst her parent’s divorce.

[Grace Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Child dealing with divorce