MMGM: Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
ABOUT THE BOOK
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 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.)
REVIEW
I love to read Kate DiCamillo's books because I always know going in that it's going to be a great story. Some of her stories I love because of the humor, others because of the heart. Louisiana's Way Home is full of heart. After reading Raymie Nightingale I knew that Louisiana's Granny takes her away, but I did not suspect just how heart-wrenching of a journey that Louisiana would end up taking. I immediately empathized with Louisiana at the beginning when she's wrestling with anger toward her Granny for taking her away from her friends and animals. She felt she'd finally found a home and now it's all been taken from her. But her Granny's tooth troubles made it a bit more difficult to be so angry with her as she is in so much pain. Louisiana's resourcefulness is impressive, if rather risky at times.
About halfway through the book, DiCamillo throws in a twist that I did not see coming and that left me as stunned and angry as Louisiana. After everything that Louisiana has already experienced it just seemed so utterly unfair for her to experience such a tremendous blow. And Louisiana struggles greatly with it, as would anyone. But thankfully there are those around her that are willing to show her kindness as she struggles to find her way and figure out just where is home and how will she know it when she finds it. As with her other books, DiCamillo somehow manages to write a story of hope in the face of tragedy and difficult.
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