The Distance to Home

by Jenn Bishop (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

It's a heartwarming celebration of sisterhood and summertime, and of finding the courage to get back in the game.


Last summer, Quinnen was the star pitcher of her baseball team, the Panthers. They were headed for the championship, and her loudest supporter at every game was her best friend and older sister, Haley. This summer, everything is different. Haley's death, at the end of last summer, has left Quinnen and her parents reeling. Without Haley in the stands, Quinnen doesn't want to play baseball. It seems like nothing can fill the Haley-sized hole in her world. The one glimmer of happiness comes from the Bandits, the local minor-league baseball team. For the first time, Quinnen and her family are hosting one of the players for the season. Without her sister, Quinnen's not sure it will be any fun, but soon she befriends a few players. With their help, can she make peace with the past and return to the pitcher's mound? 

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School Library Journal

Recommend this poignant novel to fans of Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park and The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin.

Publishers Weekly

A piercing first novel. . . . Bishop insightfully examines the tested relationships among grieving family members and friends in a story of resilience, forgiveness, and hope.

Review quotes

"With appeal to both sports- and drama-minded girls, this will make a good book club selection and pass-it-among-your-friends read." —The Bulletin
Jenn Bishop
Jenn Bishop is also the author of 14 Hollow Road and is a former youth services and teen librarian. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she studied English, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Along with her husband and cat, Jenn lives in Cincinnati. Visit her online at JennBishop.com or on Twitter at @buffalojenn.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781101938744
Lexile Measure
570
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Yearling Books
Publication date
May 16, 2017
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039030 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Death & Dying
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
JUV032010 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Baseball
Library of Congress categories
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