Readers who first met Louisiana Elefante in Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo's Raymie Nightingale will be thrilled to get to know her better in Louisiana's Way Home. According to the quietly dramatic 12-year-old, this stand-alone middle-grade novel is "a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings." Oh, "[a]nd also curses." The curse is one of "sundering," attached to the story of Louisiana's great-grandfather, a "most elegant and deceitful" magician, who in 1910 sawed his wife in half on stage, then walked away, never to return.
Fast forward to 1977. In the wee hours of one fall night, Louisiana's granny, with no explanation, loads Louisiana in the car, sundering her from home and her two best friends, not to mention her cat and Buddy the one-eyed dog. Louisiana is helplessly furious, but when her granny is incapacitated by a terrible toothache, our heroine is suddenly in the driver's seat--literally. The two penniless former Floridians end up in a small town in Georgia, where Louisiana is forced to "use [her] charm" to convince a dentist to tend to Granny's toothache. While her granny recuperates, the ever-resourceful Louisiana roams the town, befriending a boy named Burke Allen and his crow, Clarence. She is determined to find her way back home to Florida, but when her granny disappears, leaving only a letter, Louisiana's entire life boils down to one question: "Who am I?"
DiCamillo's (Flora & Ulysses; The Tale of Despereaux; Because of Winn-Dixie) funny and hugely likable Louisiana has a marvelous way with words and a spirit that will not rest until she finds her way home, wherever that may be. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor