We first met Louisiana Elefante in Kate DiCaimillo’s book Raymie Nightingale. Louisiana lived with her granny, wore hand-me-down cloths and didn’t always have enough food to eat. Louisiana was one of Raymie’s best friends, along with Beverly Tapinsky. Now, we learn more about Louisiana in this wonderful new book. When the story opens, Louisiana is in the car with her granny, heading north, away from her friends and her life in Florida. Louisiana was given no notice of the move: Granny wakes her up in the middle of the night, and off they go. To top it all off, Granny becomes ill on the road, and now it’s up to Louisiana to figure out how to save them both. Alone with Granny in an unfamiliar town, Louisiana tries to decide what to do. Can she go home again, or must she come up with a new way to survive? This is a lovely book, and Louisiana is a brave, wonderful character. You can’t always depend the people you’re with, so Louisiana must come to depend on herself. I won’t spoil the story, but Louisiana’s journey is one not to be missed. You should read Raymie Nightingale first, if possible, before reading Louisiana’s Way Home. Both books are recommended, but I thought that Louisiana’s Way Home was the better of the two.
Annette G.
