From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be. When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are … this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana’s life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town — including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder — she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana’s and Granny’s heads. But that is a story for another time.)
Called “one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale — and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.more
This is a marvelous book, full of heart but without a drop of cheap sentimentality. . . . What a pleasure it is to read a story in which the author’s faith in the goodness of ‘average’ people is set forth with such vigor and confidence. This celebration of kindness is itself a kindness to the reader and an encouragement to hope.
If you have read Kate DiCamillo’s book “Raymie Nightingale” you are introduced to three girls named Raymie, Beverley, and Louisiana. You don’t need to have read Raymie Nightingale first, but this book delves deeper into the story of the quirky and spunky Louisiana. In true Kate DiCamillo fashion, it will pull at your heart strings. It has short chapters and a clever and heartwarming story that any middle schooler and above would love. Unlike any other of Kate’s books, this one is told in first person. I think that really adds to Lousiana’s voice.
“Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.”
There are some things that might need to be discussed with the younger crowd: abandonment (as a baby and as a child), stealing, and lying.
I received an ARC through NetGallery from the publisher for my honest review.
Louisiana Elefante has been torn away from everything she knows. In the middle of the night, her granny bundles her in the car to take her across the state line from Florida into Georgia, muttering dire predictions about the curse that has caught up with them. After running out of gas, making an emergency trip to a dentist, and inveigling a room at a small town motel, Louisiana finds her situation growing more dire by the hour. But in the midst of all her troubles she also finds kindness–from a friendly boy with a crow on his shoulder and a bologna sandwich to offer, from a cheerful grandpa happy to share his ice cream sundae, from a mother not too busy with her county-famous cakes to wash a strange little girl’s dress, and from a church minister with a walrus’ face and an ear ready to listen.
I am curious to see what a middle grade child would make of this story. As an adult, I found it gloriously poignant and breathtakingly heart-wrenching…which is to say, I cried through nearly half of the book. The story is a beauty from ashes tale that shows the power of kindness, charity, forgiveness, and hope, all seen through the eyes of an unforgettable child.
The theme of Pinocchio is deftly woven into the story, as Louisiana compares her own life to the wooden puppet’s and looks for her own Blue Fairy. By the end, the group of stars which Louisiana knows as the “Pinocchio constellation” (with the puppet’s long nose that comes from telling lies) is renamed as the “Big Dipper,” the home of the North Star that can keep everyone, even a little girl from Florida, from being lost and alone in this big old world.
“The world smelled of unshared caramel candy and dust and beeswax. Everything was broken; I knew that. But I felt like I could fix it if I just kept singing. And so I kept singing.”
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Beautifully written. The ending will bring you all the feels from sadness to happiness to love. Twenty four hours after finishing I am still moved to tears thinking about this book.
Louisiana Elefante is awakened in the middle of the night by her Granny and told they are leaving for good right then. As they cross the FL/GA state line Louisiana realizes she will never see her friends again and starts plotting in her head how to get back to Lister, FL. When Granny starts having dental problems and finding a dentist is the number one goal, Louisiana finds more than she bargained for in a new friend and the family she has always dreamed of being apart of.
If the cover with a little blond girl and a cute bunny barrette does not pull you in immediately you will be pulled in by the second page and falling in love with Louisiana. Her spunkiness and pure childlike look into the word will grip your heart and not let it go. You will admire her determination and strength as she navigates the hand that is dealt to her.
Louisiana’s Way Home is a book I will be re-reading for years to come and will be sharing with my students every year. A wonderful example of how you can overcome a rough start in life and with grit and determination you can decide on who you will become.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Candlewick Press through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.
“I don’t know who I am. I only know that I am not who I thought I was.”
No one should utter this statement, but Louisiana, age 12, did.
This was the story of Louisiana’s hard and arduous forced journey with her grandmother. Both had to made difficult choices-choices that were actually fueled by love, though not initially recognized as such by Louisiana. Along the way, they met some kindhearted individuals that also played a role in their decisions and life.
Kate DiCamillo knows how to engage her reader. She knows how to pull at your emotions every which way… and then some. She knows how to write a bittersweet yet heartwarming story with complex and memorable characters that somehow over the course of the story find their way to a happier place…a stable place…a loving place…and finally…a family and a home.
This was a very well written and interesting story that I’m sure will find its way to children’s reading lists and classrooms libraries.
i thought that everybody would love to read this book because it just so amazing and its easy to read. and i also like the character’s
In LOUISIANA’S WAY HOME, Kate DiCamillo tells of young Louisiana Elefante who is woken by her granny in the middle of the night to tell her that they’re leaving and never returning home. This book with Louisiana covers some deep topics in a way only DiCamillo can and does. This book celebrates the strength of the human spirit and reminds us of the good in most folks. Highly recommended for all Juvenile readers.
I loved this book and it’s colorful characters.
This book was amazing! It included so many amazing details! It was so creative and any young child or adult would love it! I definitely recommend this book!
Great story. I love the strength and courage this little girl had.
I am reviewing an ARC of this book that I received from the publisher through NetGalley.
I enjoyed this story but feel that I must go back and read Raymie’s story so that I can understand Louisiana’s character a little better. I read this book and as a teacher I unfortunately was able to think of a couple of students who actually live like this with guardians who have no money and con others into helping them and seem to pick up and leave town on a whim with thoughts of school the furthest thing from their minds.