Louisiana's Way Home
Candlewick Press, October 2, 2018
ages 10 and up
ISBN 978-0-7636-9463-0
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.)
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.
Awards and Honors
- Carnegie (CILIP) Longlist
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year
- Bookpage Best Children’s Books of the Year
- Boston Globe Best Book of the Year
- Evanston Public Library: 101 Great Books for Kids
- Foreword INDIES Award
- Horn Book Fanfare
- International Literacy Association Young Adults’ Choices Reading List
- Junior Library Guild Selection
- Kansas National Education Association Reading Circle, Junior
- Keystone to Reading Book Award
- Minnesota Book Awards
- NCTE Notable Children’s Books, Language Arts
- National Public Radio’s Best Books Guide
- Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award
- Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Books of the Year
- Whippoorwill Book Award
Read the Reviews
DiCamillo offers a master class in how to tell and shape a story once all fat has been cut away. Though set in the mid-1970s, there’s fairy-tale quality to this, with heroes, helpers, villains, and one princess looking for home. (Booklist, starred review)
Readers who first encountered Louisiana in Raymie Nightingale (2016) will be heartened to learn more about her … For readers who relish thoughtfully constructed plots, well-developed characters, and carefully crafted language, this will be a special treat. (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
DiCamillo builds a resilient and sympathetic character in Louisiana, and the juxtaposition of her down-to-earth observations with Granny’s capriciousness lightens the narrative and allows for a good deal of humor… The overarching themes addressing forgiveness, love, friendship, acceptance, home, and family (“Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up”) ring honest and true. (The Horn Book, starred review)
In Kate DiCamillo’s beautiful follow-up to Raymie Nightingale, Louisiana Elefante is back… The book strikes a delicate balance between relating a charming, entertaining story full of colorful characters and imparting a deeply meaningful life lesson about deciding what kind of person to be. (ForeWord Reviews)