Something Like Home by Andrea Beatrix Arango

A poignant novel-in-verse explores the question: “What is home when your world turns upside-down?“

Something Like Home, Andrea Beatrix Arango, Random House Books for Young Readers, 2023. 256 pages.

• Reading Level: Middle Grade, Ages 10-12
• Recommended For: Ages 12 – up

We meet Laura in a car. A social worker is driving her to her aunt’s apartment. But why? We don’t know though as the novel-in-verse progresses, readers will begin to gather an idea. Meanwhile, Laura has to start classes at a new school and get to know the aunt she never knew. And then there’s a dog whose arrival will tug your heartstrings. Laura misses her parents and her friends. Through flashbacks, readers come to understand why Laura is in foster care: her parents are addicts. As Laura navigates this new season of life, she slowly makes her way toward “something like home.”

Springing from a grim premise, Something Like Home is a beautiful, hopeful novel-in-verse. Arango skillfully captures Laura’s emotions, using multiple ways of reflecting the effects of trauma. The story is both heart-breaking and hopeful as Laura grapples with her parents’ decisions and the love of her aunt. With no mention of faith or a high power, Laura’s salvation rests in community. Community, as Arango portrays it, is built on acceptance and love, and Christian readers will find some problems with the outworkings of this worldview. Arango refrains from giving reader’s a fairytale ending, but she finishes Laura’s story with hope, creating a realistic novel for middle grade readers.

Considerations:

• Sexuality/Worldivew (Laura’s mother, though married to Laura’s father, is described as bi-sexual. Pronouns are used to introduce different characters, including a they/them therapist)
• Thematic (Drug addiction, substance abuse, and overdosing are mentioned)

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

• Literary/Artistic Rating: 4/5
• Worldview Rating: 3/5

Remember, unless a book is starred, a review is not necessarily a recommendation. Read more about our ratings here.

Recommended Reading at Redeemed Reader

• Book Review: All the Impossible Things (another excellent story that explores the foster care experience, using some fantasy to picture the effects of trauma)
• Book Review: The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon (friendship, foster care, and lots of humor in one of our favorite books from 2018)
• Resource: Back to School Books for Middle School

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