No Place Like Home
by James Bird (Author)
A middle-grade novel by James Bird about homelessness and hope.
When home is a car, life is unpredictable. School, friends, and three meals a day aren't guaranteed. Not every town has a shelter where a family can sleep for a night or two, and places with parking lots don't welcome overnight stays.
Opin, his brother Emjay, and their mother are trying to get to Los Angeles, where they hope an uncle and a new life are waiting. Emjay has taken to disappearing for days, slowing down the family's progress and adding to their worry. Then Opin finds a stray dog who needs him as much as he needs her, and his longing for a stable home intensifies, as his brother's reckless ways hit a new high. Opin makes a new friend in the shelter, but shelters don't allow dogs... Will anything other than a real home ever be enough?
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Publishers Weekly
Twelve-year-old Ojibwe Opin has been living in his family's Ford Pinto for some time with his mother and impulsive older brother, Emjay, who often disappears during rest stops along their route across California to Los Angeles. Gathering left-behind grub from fast food restaurants, slipping into empty hotel rooms to shower, and crossing their fingers for space at a local shelter are just a few of the things they must do to survive if they hope to make it to their destination before social services puts the brothers in foster care. Despite the promise of stability in L.A., the feeling of home is always just out of reach, until Opin adopts a stray dog that he believes completes their family. But when Emjay takes his frustrations out on the pup and storms off, and Opin reckons with the fact that most shelters don't allow pets, Opin worries that his family has reached a breaking point. Writing from his own experience, per an author's note, Ojibwe author Bird (The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls) crafts this deeply felt ode to familial love with authoritative prose. Opin's palpable fears, joys, and unrelenting hope buoy this tale of resilience. A glossary and playlist conclude. Ages 10-14. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Aug.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
A Book Riot "Best New Children's Book of August 2023"
"Author Bird crafts this deeply felt ode to familial love with authoritative prose.... Opin's palpable fears, joys, and unrelenting hope buoy this tale of resilience." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"James Bird, who has been homeless and is of Ojibwe descent, writes with rare authority, insight, and compassion that invites deep empathy from readers. He has done a beautiful job of creating an unforgettable family, who, as Inde says, "may be broke, but we're not broken." — Booklist, starred review
JUV039070 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Homelessness & Poverty
Homeless persons
Dysfunctional families
Family problems
Novels
