Louisiana’s Way Home, a middle-grade historical novel by Kate DiCamillo, took ahold of my heart somehow. I read it a couple of days ago, and it’s still hanging around in my mind. I think it’s the amazing combination of the quirky characters, the awful predicament Louisiana finds herself in, and the resolution that rings true.
The spunky main character, Louisiana Elefante, is being driven farther and farther away from her Florida home—where her best friends are, and her cat. Her ornery granny is driving, and she won’t turn around because she’s got a date with destiny. So when they stay overnight in a little Georgia town, Louisiana is trying to figure out how to use a telephone (it’s 1977) to find the number to call her best friends to come and get her. She fails.
She meets some unusual people in Georgia, some trying to help her including a boy with a crow that follows him everywhere, others less than helpful. Things get a lot worse for her, and finally (spoiler alert) they get better. We readers are assured that this orphan has found people who cherish her. She has indeed found a home.
All these things work together to create a very memorable story.
Published by Candlewick Press in 2018.
Highly recommended, five stars. * * * * *
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@Barrie Summy
That Kate DiCamillo! She’s amazing, right!?!
I liked Louisiana’s Way Home, but I loved Raymie Nightingale (the first book). I think the difference, for me, was the dynamic among the three girls in Raymie Nightingale. And that dynamic missing in Louisiana’s Way Home. There is going to be a third book…with the third girl, the very spunky Beverly Tapinski, as the protagonist. I’m hoping the three girls will be back together in the third book. Thank you for reviewing!
I remember reading one of her earlier books, The Tale of Despereaux, to my kids and enjoying it as much as my kids did. Dicamillo is a gifted storyteller. Thanks for sharing this one!
Sounds like a good book, Phyllis.
My greatest fear as a child (and teen) were moving away from my best friends. But life happens. Sounds like Louisiana finds a way to work things out. – Margy