Available:*
Library | Material Type | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... East End | Book | FICTION ALLEN-A | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Main Library | Book | FICTION ALLEN-A | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... North Avenue | Book | FICTION ALLEN-A | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Fans of Monday's Not Coming and Girl in Pieces will love this award-winning novel about a girl on the verge of losing herself and the unlikely journey to recovery after she is removed from anything and everyone she knows to be home.
Moving from Trinidad to Canada wasn't her idea. But after being hospitalized for depression, her mother sees it as the only option. Now, living with an estranged aunt she barely remembers and dealing with her "troubles" in a foreign country, she feels more lost than ever.
Everything in Canada is cold and confusing. No one says hello, no one walks anywhere, and bus trips are never-ending and loud. She just wants to be home home, in Trinidad, where her only friend is going to school and Sunday church service like she used to do.
But this new home also brings unexpected surprises: the chance at a family that loves unconditionally, the possibility of new friends, and the promise of a hopeful future. Though she doesn't see it yet, Canada is a place where she can feel at home--if she can only find the courage to be honest with herself.
" Allen-Agostini uses frank yet gentle prose...[in this] hopeful story about finding one's place and the sometimes-difficult journey to self-acceptance."- Kirkus Reviews , Starred review
"An accessible look at teen anxiety and depression...[ Home Home ] shines in its depictions of the physical and emotional aspects of anxiety and depression ...[and] teens of color coping with mental illness will find common cause with this Trini girl's journey toward self-actualization and healing."-- Booklist
" Allen-Agostini depicts the culture of her homeland with honesty and enlightening details, ... delivering important messages about acceptance and mental illness. "- SLJ
Reviews (2)
Horn Book Review
After a suicide attempt, Kayla, a fourteen-year-old brown-skinned girl from Trinidad, is packed off to Canada by her strict single mother to recover in the loving care of Kaylas free-spirited aunt. Throughout the summer, she receives treatment for anxiety and depression, adjusts to the twin novelties of suburban Edmonton and Aunty Jillians lesbian relationship (which is interracial), and contemplates the differences between life in Canada and life back in Trinidad. Her first romance and the troubled mother-daughter relationship drive the plot as she realizes what home really means and in which country her future lies. Kaylas first-person narrative, which includes interspersed diary entries as well as reflections on serious issues such as homophobia and teenage pregnancy, is by turns moving, insightful, and wry, providing an authentic window into the perceptions of a teen suffering from depression. Her self-absorption, while reasonable, is glossed over; thus, the book misses an opportunity to explore an oft-misunderstood aspect of mental illness as well as the strain it can have on relationships. The authors attempts to broaden perspectives on LGBTQIA+ people and mentally ill people give the novel more depth than some of Kaylas references to Trinidadians (real Trinis; Trinidadians made jokes about everything. We laughed at life). This and the sporadic intrusion of an adult-sounding voice are minor flaws in an otherwise thoughtful and well-paced story filled with realistic and complex family dynamics. Summer Edward July/August 2020 p.130(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Can a place be your home if you don't feel like you belong there? Fourteen-year-old Kayla is a dark-skinned girl from Trinidad. After being hospitalized following struggles with mental illness--much to her mother's shame and disappointment--Kayla is sent to spend the summer in Canada with her Aunty Jillian and Jillian's partner, Julie. She now has to come to terms with and get treatment for her depression and anxiety, all while adjusting to living somewhere so different from the place she has known since birth--from the weather to the more tolerant culture. She sticks out in Edmonton and yet it is here that she has the room to be herself and to try and manage her mental health as best as she can. Allen-Agostini uses frank yet gentle prose to discuss serious topics like mental illness, complex familial dynamics, poverty, violence, and latent as well as blatant homophobia in this novel featuring a diverse cast of characters that focuses on a teen trying to cope with the harsh circumstances she's been dealt in life. With some chapters written as diary entries detailing Kayla's concerns, which range from body image and self-esteem to how to handle a crush, the story and voice feel authentic. This novel is sure to evoke sympathy and compassion in readers. A hopeful story about finding one's place and the sometimes-difficult journey to self-acceptance. (Fiction. 13-adult) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
