SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

November 24, 2021 by Amanda MacGregor

Book Review: Home Home by Lisa Allen-Agostini

November 24, 2021 by Amanda MacGregor   Leave a Comment

Publisher’s description

Fans of Monday’s Not Coming and Girl in Pieces will love this award-winning novel about a girl on the verge of losing herself and her unlikely journey to recovery after she is removed from anything and everyone she knows to be home.

Moving from Trinidad to Canada wasn’t her idea. But after being hospitalized for depression, her mother sees it as the only option. Now, living with an estranged aunt she barely remembers and dealing with her “troubles” in a foreign country, she feels more lost than ever.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Everything in Canada is cold and confusing. No one says hello, no one walks anywhere, and bus trips are never-ending and loud. She just wants to be home home, in Trinidad, where her only friend is going to school and Sunday church service like she used to do.

But this new home also brings unexpected surprises: the chance at a family that loves unconditionally, the possibility of new friends, and the promise of a hopeful future. Though she doesn’t see it yet, Canada is a place where she can feel at home–if she can only find the courage to be honest with herself.

Amanda’s thoughts

This is another book I picked up as I worked on my article on mental health in middle grade fiction for SLJ. The main character here is 14 and in 9th grade, but I think this could comfortably be called upper middle grade. I don’t know how I missed this when it first came out (because I really do try to Read All The Books), but I’m so glad I got to read this now.

After Kayla attempts suicide, her mother ships her from Trinidad to her aunts in Canada. Here, Kayla receives the support, understanding, love, and, most importantly, treatment she was not getting at home. While her mother loves her, she does not understand what Kayla is going through, nor does she even really believes mental illness is real, and is ashamed and embarrassed by Kayla. As Kayla tells a new friend, at home (home home, Trinidad), people would view her illness as demon possession or just bad behavior. While it’s for the best that Kayla is now in an environment that’s positive for her, it’s still hard (obviously) to move countries and be away from everything you know. But things start to feel more like home and, through diary entry exercises from her therapist, we see Kayla start to work through her feelings about her mother. This short book is a hopeful look at moving forward through mental illness and the importance of mental health concerns being taken seriously.

ISBN-13: 9781984893581
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication date: 05/26/2020
Age Range: 14 – 17 Years

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Book reviewsCanadaLower YAMental HealthTrinidadUpper Middle Grade

About Amanda MacGregor

Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on Twitter @CiteSomething.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

April 2022

Tackling Your Children's Collection Diversity Audit, a TLA presentation recap

by Amanda MacGregor

April 2022

Mindfulness in the Library, a guest post by Erica B. Marcus

by Amanda MacGregor

April 2022

Cindy Crushes Programming: DIY Paper Flowers

by Amanda MacGregor

April 2022

In SLJ: Verse Novelists Forge a Unique Connection with Young Readers

by Amanda MacGregor

April 2022

The Ghost of the Pied Piper, a guest post by S. A. Patrick

by Amanda MacGregor

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Right Now, on The Yarn Podcast . . .

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Quite the Treat. A Yellow Dog Blues Interview with Alice Faye Duncan and Chris Raschka

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Bug Scouts: Out in the Wild! | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Many May Suggestions: First Quarter Mock Newbery Possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Take 5: Recent graphic novels reviews

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

Farewell From The Classroom Bookshelf

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Grant Snider Visits The Yarn!

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Three Action-Packed Adventures for Fans of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

Kids Chase Their Dreams in These 'Better Nate Than Ever' Read-Alikes

ReadABILITY| Great Books Centering Disability Narratives

16 Spooky Middle Grade Books for Young Horror Fans| Summer Reading 2021

13 Books for Tweens

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2022


COPYRIGHT © 2022