Caring for her two younger siblings after their unreliable mother abandons them, fifteen-year-old Anna discovers the difficulties of trying to be a parent.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10?Mama's gone again, and it's hardly a surprise to 15-year-old Anna. The surprise comes later, when Mama doesn't come back, and Anna discovers her old yellow car submerged in the lake. Anna's desperate struggle to make a home for her two younger siblings leads her to Mississippi to trace her mother's escape route from her abused childhood and to seek her family and milieu. Anna, the black child of a white mother and unknown father, loves her two white siblings passionately, though she can't forget she's different. Poverty and sickness lead the young woman to abandon her fight to keep the household together and to turn to the social service agency that has scattered them before. This eloquent depiction of impoverishment and courage is set in the contemporary hills of Connecticut, where there are plenty of contrasts: destitution among wealth; grief hiding below apparent equanimity; bigotry within families; tenacity against all odds. Anna tells the story in the first person with warmth and immediacy. Among the cast of less credible characters are despicable Aunt Roe McCallum, who literally furnishes her home with foster children; and Nate Leon, Anna's white sweetheart and champion, who appears every time a rescue is needed. Nonetheless, A Place to Call Home is a fast-paced, compelling read, with a memorable and feisty heroine and satisfying social values. It will sit easily on the shelf next to Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade (Holt, 1993).?Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gr. 7^-10. Fifteen-year-old biracial Anna tries to care for her five-year-old sister and infant brother when her alcoholic mother disappears yet again. Anna discovers her mother's car in a nearby lake--evidence of her suicide. After hiding in a cabin in the woods and then being placed with an unloving foster family, Anna, in desperation, travels to her mother's hometown in Mississippi, hoping to find family and a home. Instead, she learns of the horrors of her mother's past and meets white grandparents who don't want her. In spite of the grimness and apparent hopelessness of Anna's situation, she finds help, love, friendship, and a home. Koller portrays a young woman of strength and character, whose search for love and roots is at the core of a sensitive and finely written novel that shows the tragic and all-too-common results of sexual abuse and rejection from one's family. Merri Monks
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A place to call home!,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: A Place to Call Home (Mass Market Paperback)
A place to call home!
This is a very interesting book that inspires and tells a life story about a girl named Anna and her other two siblings. Casey, at the age of 11 months, and Mandy, at the age of 5. Anna's mother is an alcoholic. She is a regular about leaving Anna to take care of the children for about a day or so but when she leaves this time Anna doesn't think she is coming back! Anna is pretty much a mother at the age of 15. Anna try's to get through the time of her life being a kid but that isn't very possible. Since Anna has 2 siblings to look out for Anna doesn't have a lot of time for boys. So when Nate a very cute boy in Anna's eyes comes along she can not spend time with him! Anna gets her first kiss, and would like to spend time with Nate but now that she knows that her mom is not coming back Anna can't trust anybody. Anna and Mandy are always very scared that the foster care is going to come and separate their family. Mandy and Anna are always looking out for each other and will try to never separate. I liked this book because it is inspiring and it is a life telling story. I really liked this book and I hope you have a fun time reading it too!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Books I've Ever Read,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: A Place to Call Home (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book last year, and it was outstanding. This book is about Anna O'Dell and her two younger siblings, Mandy and Casey who are abandoned by their alcoholic mother. Since her father is dead, Anna soon assumes the role of a mother and finds out how hard it really is to be a parent, especially at the age of 15.I highly recommend this book to anyone. When I read it, I couldn't put it down. I read this book in school with some of my friends as a group, and we all loved it. Some of them even cried. It is touching and very realistic, and you will be sad when it ends, because you won't want it to end.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Place to Call Home,
By A Customer
This review is from: Place To Call Home, A (Hardcover)
The O'Dell children are left alone when things get too much to handle for their mother. So their mother just takes off. Fifteen-year-old Anna has now learned to take care of her five-year-old sister Mandy, and her seven-month-old brother Casey. Anna tries to hide, and not let anyone know that mother is gone. Anna's goal is to keep the three of them together, but she has to make tough decisions. This is Anna's story. I enjoyed this book because, I would never want to stop. It just kept getting good.
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