Kate Messner knows how to write middle grade fiction. There is always a good dose of learning about something new along with well-developed characters and storylines.

This book has some deep issues and topics including single parents, financial issues, evictions, homelessness, environmental issues, loss of a loved one and even a bit of abuse. It also has a great theme of friendship and love. Wonderful eye opening book.

Kate Messner: please don’t ever stop writing.

This is an amazing book that broaches the topic of homelessness with delicacy and grace. You have a hardworking mom, studying to become a nurse, who falls short on paying the rent (for three months). And you have an elderly landlord who’s sympathetic and willing to make adjustments who sadly dies one day.

And in between, you have the son, who lives through the situation an adult takes him through: sleeping in a car, staying in a shelter, holding onto false hope that Dad will come back and make things better.

Love the title. Home is where the heart is. Messner has again created a story with a bit of science to draw kids in. Kids will want to go geo-caching after reading The Exact Location of Home. Messner has written an important story that exposes the real-life challenges of the homeless in a respectful and honest manner -- it opens kid's eyes to the situation of those less fortunate. Well done, Kate!

I haven't picked up a Kate Messner book that I didn't like, that's why it's funny I didn't pick this one up when it first came out years ago. But I'm so glad I found it this time around. This story has all the elements I love about a Messner story and so much more.
My boys are obsessed with the geocaching right now, so it was fun to see the theme of this story advanced through this device. Zig was such a lovable little guy with so many qualities that made him feel real, and not created. I wanted him to be safe in his secret and to find everything he was looking for.
Again, there are some tough topic involved, but I don't think they are insensitively handled or unnecessarily told. This story stole my heart and will definitely be one I re-read in the future.

Kate Messner continues to write very important books that are quiet, but work so so so well.

Zig’s a tinkerer, so when he lucks into a box of miscellaneous electronics at a garage sale, he’s intrigued by the GPS unit inside. As he’s checking out geocaching locations, he notices one poster with a name that could be his dad’s—and he wonders if it could be his dad’s way of contacting him, leaving him clues in the geocache. It’s a bright spot in an increasingly difficult time: His fun-loving but perpetually busy dad has been MIA for years, his mom’s waitress job is barely covering the grocery bill, and their nice landlady has been replaced by her son, who says they’ve got to pay their back rent or he’s going to evict them. Zig never thought he’d be sleeping in the car and sneaking in a shower at school or that a family shelter would start to feel like home, but that’s what happens when they can’t come up with the rent payment.

Too ashamed to tell his friends (including Gianna, whom you may know from The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z—and if you don't, you should) what’s happening with his life, Zig can’t understand why his mom refuses to ask his dad for help—Zig knows if he knew what was happening, his dad would be there in a second to rescue them. He starts searching for geocache clues more and more, trying to figure out where his dad really is and what he might be trying to tell Zig.

Homelessness is one of those Issues that used to pop up in my Scholastic book order form (along with Teen Pregnancy, Child Abuse, and Drugs), and it would be very easy for this book to veer into After-School Special territory. It doesn’t though, thanks in large part to Zig, who manages to be a normal, slightly geeky kid who just happens to become homeless. There’s no drama about it, just a slow, inevitable process of not being able to catch up the bills—his mom picks up every shift she can, but waitresses don’t make a lot of money, and she’s still trying to finish nursing school. Zig never falls into the stereotypical role of Homeless Boy; he’s just Zig, who happens to be homeless right now. This book manages to walk the fine line of being an actual story about an interesting person and addressing an important social issue.

Readers will suspect long before Zig that there’s a lot of wish-fulfillment going on in his geocaching search for his absent father, but the clues are fun to follow and his adventure’s resolution has surprising sweetness. It’s also interesting to see the role school plays in Zig’s new life: School is a place where he can safely take a shower, get free lunch, and get support from a kind librarian who notices when a kid is missing school supplies, but it’s also a place where people might tease him for being poor and where clueless teachers talk about helping “the less fortunate” while some of those less fortunate are squirming in the desks in front of them.

Zig sees the world as one big circuit, and his engineer’s brain wishes life could be as simple as fixing a broken toaster: Once you find the problem and repair it, the circuit completes and it starts working again. Having to figure out how things can work even when parts are missing or broken is part of Zig’s journey.

Must read book - for students and educators! This book is truly a window into what is a sad reality for far too many kids. Kirby’s story will help develop empathy in all who read it!

Zig loves electronics and discovering new things. But the thing he wants to discover the most is why his dad keeps canceling his visits and why his mom won't tell him anything or why she won't ask him for help. Because the fact is - his mom is struggling to pay the bills. When their landlady dies the end up being kicked out of their apartment and when living with Zig's aunt doesn't work they are homeless. Meanwhile, Zig thinks he is onto his dad's location via a geocaching username and clues he has found. Can Zig discover the truth?

I really like Kate Messner's works and her approach to tough topics. This deals with homelessness very respectfully that will make it relatable to many students I work with.

Loved this book and will not only be recommending it for my "library readers" but to English teachers as book club books as well. Another wonderful read from Messner.

While geocaching is an unusual focus for a middle grade novel, homelessness is the more interesting element. Messner really puts us Zig's place. We feel what he feels, his shame and desperation. I loved how being forced into all of these situations opened his eyes to the complexity of his peers and of the world in general. There are subtle messages about judgement and the value of hard work. A few of the plot twists were rather obvious, but overall its a pretty complex and enjoyable book.

The Exact Location of Home by Kate Messner is a story that will pull at the readers heart. In the story Zig and his friends spend a great deal of time together going to garage sales, skipping rocks, and just being together. When Zig gets a gps, they begin geocaching. But Zig hides a secret from his friends that has changed his entire world. As Zig grows, he finds support from an unexpected ally and gives support to a young boy, both facing similar circumstances as Zig. 

Messner has given us a compassionate and necessary middle grade story about the reality of homelessness for many children today. This story has a unique premise with the geocaching theme and I love that while the main character is in 8th grade he will be relatable for students both much younger and much older than he is. I would love to get this book into the hands of all teachers and administrators who struggle to understand how difficult school can be for children without a stable home life, and who make well-intended but thoughtless comments about the homeless population.

I received this ARC from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this in ebook format a couple of years ago and I was very disappointed that it was not available in print format. I decided to read it again when I saw that NetGalley had it available. I am glad I did, and I will definitely be ordering it for my library.

Zig is a pretty good kid, and when he and his mom fall on hard times he responds like most kids would. He is angry, disappointed, and embarrassed. However, for the most part he continues to try and keep up with his schoolwork and help his mom. He takes to geocaching in an effort to reconnect with his absent father. He gets in trouble a couple of times, but not because he is malicious. His friends also stick by him, though when they find out the truth they are hurt that he wasn't honest with them (another believable scenario). I think this is the book that turned me on to Kate Messner, and she is now among my favorite kidlit authors.

I have always like Kate Messner books, I even got one of my younger brothers into her books years ago. Messner is always good about including "messages" in her books, but also trying to keep it light with humor and great characters. I found hard to read at points because I was feeling for Zig and the relationship he has with his father. and all the things that were going on with him and his mother. This is definitely one to purchase for everyone to be able to better understand not having a stable home life.

In The Exact Location of Home, Zig and his friends spend a great deal of time together going to garage sales, skipping rocks, and just being together. When Zig gets a gps, they begin geocaching. But Zig hides a secret from his friends that has changed his entire world. As Zig grows, he finds support from an unexpected ally and gives support to a young boy, both facing similar circumstances as Zig. This one will tug at your heart. I thank the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to be an early reader in exchange for my unbiased review.

Touching story that considers the themes of homelessness, family, friendship and the environment. I adored the characters, especially Zig and Scoop. The fabulous picture book Library Lion plays a role in the story which was a lot of fun for me since I love that one. I highly recommend this for home, classroom and school libraries. This would be a great book to discuss in a book group or as a classroom read aloud.

Zig's parents divorced three years ago, he doesn't see his dad much. When his dad visits, it's always great, but dad has been too busy and cancelled the last few trips. Zig finds an old GPS device and decides to search for his dad through geocaching, which his dad did in the past. Zig and his mom lose their apartment and that is when Zig searches the hardest for his dad, convinced he has found him through a geocacher named Senior Searcher.

What I loved about this book is the honest and realistic emotions. Zig's homelessness is portrayed from many points of view and offers understanding to those not familiar with it. One of Zig's teachers is ignorant of the problems of homelessness while other adults in school quietly offer support. Zig's embarrassment prevents him from telling his best friends, Gianna and Ruby. And support of his plight comes from the unlikeliest place.

Kirby "Zig" Zigonsky is a middle school tinkerer who can't wait to see his dad, who has been MIA for over a year. When his latest visit gets cancelled, Zig starts on a geocaching mission around town to find him. Meanwhile, he and his mom go through a variety of hard times, including experiencing homelessness and staying in a shelter, and Zig does his best to navigate social relationships with those around him.

Widening perspectives and building empathy is one of the biggest benefits of kid lit, and Kate Messner has done a great job handling homelessness and other issues with sensitivity. The Exact Location of Home is well suited to mature 4th & 5th graders up through middle school readers.

I had the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review. This book deals with a very important topic, homelessness, in a very realistic and sensitive way. We never know who among our students, coworkers, classmates, or neighbors might be experiencing financial difficulties, and this novel tells the story of a family that is living that nightmare.

Eighth grader Kirby starts the school year with the normal stress of homework, changing dynamics of relationships with friends, and missing his dad. His parents had divorced several years prior and his dad rarely comes to town to see him. His mother works extra shifts as a waitress at a local diner and is studying to become a nurse. As he becomes aware of the money troubles facing them, he becomes convinced that if he could get in touch with his father everything would be all right. His father is into geocaching as a hobby and Kirby gets the idea in his head that he could track down his father by pursuing this scavenger hunt game with a GPS device.

I like that this story is told from a boy’s point of view. The character development is very authentic and I believe middle grade kids will be able to relate to Kirby. Because of the social pressures facing kids in this age group, it's very difficult to let others know that you're having problems or that you need help. The book has some terrific lessons for all of us about making negative assumptions about people. While the main characters in this story are eighth graders, I believe this book would be appropriate for kids in upper elementary grades and maybe even some high schoolers.

So, so great! Once again, Kate Messner tackles tough topics in such a loving, age appropriate way for middle grade readers. I'm so glad she returned to the world of Gianna Z and told Zig's important and heartwarming story.