Over the years, I have shared many book lists for kids, book resources for families, and free reading printables. I shared how to make your own visual reading list for your kids, and created Read for a Reason which features many book resources for homeschoolers and classroom teachers.
You can find tons of reviews online for books that have been available for a while, but there are MANY newer books and parents don’t have time to read them all to preview the topics presented. I plan to feature books that have been released within the past 5(ish) years. Many of my readers are Christian homeschooling families and have concerns about what is presented in books. It is my hope that as I read books I can share a post with information about the book so you can decide.
Click on the graphics below to see books I have reviewed…
BOOK REVIEW: Someplace to Call Home
Book Title: Someplace to Call Home
Author: Sandra Dallas
Year Published: 2019
Suggested Ages: 8-12
Suggested Grades: 4-7
Main Characters: Hallie (12), Bennie (6), & Tom (16) Turner
Family: Their mom and other sister died, and their Dad left to look for work and never came back
Historical Time Period: 1933, The Dust Bowl, The Great Depression
Themes/Issues: poverty, bullying, discrimination, friendship, family
SUMMARY:
In 1933, what’s left of the Turner family–twelve-year-old Hallie and her two brothers–finds itself driving the back roads of rural America. The children have been swept up into a new migratory way of life. America is facing two devastating crises: the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Hundreds of thousands of people in cities across the country have lost jobs. In rural America it isn’t any better as crops suffer from the never-ending drought. Driven by severe economic hardship, thousands of people take to the road to seek whatever work they can find, often splintering fragile families in the process. As the Turner children move from town to town, searching for work and trying to cobble together the basic necessities of life, they are met with suspicion and hostility. They are viewed as outsiders in their own country. Will they ever find a place to call home?
PERSONAL NOTES:
I will be adding this book to my daughter’s 8th-grade reading list as an option if she wants to read it only because I didn’t find it sooner. If I had known about this book I probably would have put it on a 6th-7th grade book list. I personally enjoy reading books like this and don’t limit my kids to books that are for specific grades.
This book was wonderful historical fiction with a deep look into the struggles of the 1930s, especially for kids. It wasn’t what I call a “page-turner” (I HAVE to keep reading because I am so engaged), but it was good.
There were no issues of concern that stood out to me with this book.
