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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Arango, Andrea Beatriz

Something like Home

256 pp. | Random | September, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9780593566183 $17.99 | Library ISBN 9780593566190 $20.99 | Spanish ISBN 9781644738696 $14.95 | Ebook ISBN 9780593566206 $10.99
(1) 4-6 If only life were as straightforward as the Rubik's Cube that Laura loves to solve. When this Virginia-set verse novel begins, the Puerto Rican sixth grader is on her way to a kinship foster-care placement "on the other side of town" with her titi Silvia, whom Laura has never met. Pulled from her admittedly chaotic life with her parents, who are struggling with addiction, Laura copes with the overwhelming changes that a new caregiver, new rules, new school, and new peers bring, while suffering with extreme guilt over making the 911 call that resulted in her parents' being placed in rehab. Laura finds purpose in training a dog she rescues near Titi's house to be a therapy animal; her plan is to bring the dog to the rehab facility so she can finally see her parents. Arango's writing is intimate and heart-breaking, tackling such hefty issues as cultural identity, addiction, the pain of displacement and the anxiety it causes, and the adulation and rationalization that a child in pain can offer to adults they love. Arango (Newbery honoree for Iveliz Explains It All, rev. 9/22) accomplishes this with the believable voice of a girl in crisis and by tapping into compassion for all the characters amidst moving scenes of joy and connection.
Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

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