Thanks to NetGalley and West 44 Books for this read. I like how this book was written. It was nice to read the letters that were shared between the two boys that were placed in separate foster placements. This made the book easy to read and something different as well.

Sorry for the late review.

Continuing story of foster brothers separated. This time, they try to find a way to live together again. Good continuation, would continue the series if books 3 and 4 were available on kindle.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a short little book, told in emails, about two brothers in foster care. It was written with middle grade material on a lower reading level for struggling readers. I just thought it didn’t have enough substance.

This book appealed to me because I work with students in the foster system. I liked that it was accessible to my students and the formatting was different than other books. I was left feeling like I wanted more.

This Place Is Not My Home by Cyn Bermudez was an amazing continuation from the first book and I hoping there is more to come from this series very soon.

Victor and Isaac are brothers, separated by the foster care system and living about an hour apart. This story is their email correspondence with each other. Isaac is comfortable with his foster family, until he learns they are expecting a child of their own...what will happen to him now? Will they still want him around? Victor is less happy. He is in a house full of rules and chores and then he is accused of stealing,

This is the second in a series of books about the brothers, but I didn’t feel I missed much as their conversations filled in a few gaps about the previous story with hints as to why they were in foster care, The storyline came from the boys’ emails to one another, mentioning other family members briefly but very much focussed on their relationship and how they could end up back together,

There wasn’t much more to the story than this, apart from Isaac hoping to be involved in a school production,

I would have liked to have seen a bit more character development, but in the style of writing I think this could have been quite difficult, this was a quick read and I’m sure middle grade readers would be able to access the text quite easily particularly with its quite informal style. It could be used to open up conversations about foster care and what children in foster care might experience, however I would be careful to know the class or group I was to share the book with well first to avoid any possible emotional triggers,

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Brothers Victor and Isaac are living in foster homes over an hour apart. This book is their email correspondence with one another as both try to adjust to their changing world.

While Isaac has been placed in a home where he feels welcome, his older brother Victor is struggling in his placement. There are a lot of kids in his foster home, and he clashes with one of the other children. When Victor is accused of theft, he scrambles to find a way out of his placement.

I missed the first installment in the series, but the book feels fairly self-contained. Bermudez avoids the "info dump" common to sequels by deftly weaving in the fact that the boys are still coping with how they ended up in foster care. The boys's words feel true to the characters's ages. Both are teens and sound like it.

The book is fairly short. There isn't much more to the story than the synopsis above. At 88 pages, the middle grade audience would get through this reasonably quickly.

The book would be an excellent place to start a conversation about foster care and perhaps life with an incarcerated parent.

I was given a complimentary copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This Place Is Not My Home was told using emails between Victor and Isaac. There was zero character development, and something that only vaguely resembled a plot. I have no idea what either brother looked like, and there are no details about their personalities. I'm also not entirely sure how old they were, only how old they've been when referring to things that have happened in the past. Also, if they're able to communicate with each other, why is there no correspondence with their sisters? The brothers mentioned their siblings a few times, but never talked about what happened to them or where they were.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this one, but it left me feeling disappointed and a little frustrated. I wanted to know more about the brothers, but they share very few details about their lives. Basically, Isaac was in a play and nervous about a girl, and Victor was trying to prove his innocence. Everyone in his foster home (both the children and the adults) thought he was stealing things, but even that aspect of the story was anticlimactic. Victor runs away, gets picked up by the police, and all of that is handled in a single email with two or three sentences.

It's really hard to review this one, because there's simply no substance to this book.

This was an average middle grade fiction book that I wished was longer. I feel like the other books in the series could be joined to it to make it a fuller feature novel.

This book is an easy read, about two brothers in separate foster care placements. The story is told in emails between the two boys. Not much actually happens and the majority of the emails consist of the boys recounting past events to each other. This seemed rather unnatural as these memories were from their life before they were separated and so only really served to give background to the reader. It almost needed another character who hadn't known them pre-foster care, to justify the explanations of their family etc as otherwise they're just telling each other things that they know and were there for. As a hi-lo book, it was a good length but as these are often used with reluctant readers, I felt that the story needed a bit more to it, in order to keep a reader engaged and I found the rather abrupt ending quite disappointing. It read more like an extract, rather than the whole book.

This is a very short story that can be read by children or adults alike about very hard subjects. The emails are written by two boys and seeing their lives through their eyes makes very difficult scenes still be characterized by a lot of innocence.
The brothers do not know that their mother will not come back for a very long time but they do now how precarious their situations in the foster homes are and are aware that the adults lie to them all the time even though the truth is always demanded of them. Reading about characters that through no fault of their own are absolutely powerless to change their situation makes the reader connect with them.
The entire book is told through emails, the only way the brothers have of contacting each other, and that single perk is dangled in front of their eyes and withheld as their keepers see fit which leaves a mark in them and make us feel angry in their behalf.
Every scene is absolutely believable, with all of us being aware that a lot worse can happen to foster kids.
The entire book carries a bitter feeling towards a society that could not help a young family remain together and cannot support them as they should be. The importance of brotherly love and keeping the memories of their family alive is underlined throughout the entire book with the older brother constantly reminding the younger of things they used to do as a family and the promise that they will be together again eventually, something that the reader cannot help but hope and doubt at the same time.
Thank you to NetGalley and West 44 Books for this ARC.

*An ARC was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

“When it pours, have faith.”

Truly an unconventional way of writing, This Place is Not My Home is narrated through the emails sent by brothers Victor and Isaac.

Victor and Isaac were sent into foster homes after their mother went into jail. The news was spread like wildfire and everyone in their country knows about it. The kids in the school and their foster home calls them names and some even doubt their sincerity.

Victor is accused for stealing, after all, things started disappearing once he arrived. His foster parents are strict and his foster siblings are mean to him. Isaac likes his new foster parents but he is anxious that he might get kicked out soon. Nothing is going well for them and they don’t feel at home.

My favourite part of this story was how realistic the characters are. There’s slight touches on anxiety and panic attacks, which is good for middle-grade children to read about. I also liked that even though it’s the second book in the series, it can be read as a standalone.

This Place is not my Home is the 2nd book in the Brother series written by Cyn Bekmudez. It follows 2 brothers Victor and Isaac, who are in foster care system. They both live at separate homes and their only form of communication is through email.

Victor has a problem with a thief in his foster home and he is being accused of stealing. The actual thief was a shock and not who I thought it was. Victor’s foster home is several other foster kids and a ton of animals. They all have chores to do and a list of rules to follow. Victor does some crazy stunts while living there. You will have to read to find out what he does and the outcome.

Isaac is at another house with only 1 other foster and a cat. He is trying out for the school play. He is worried about everything and makes himself sick with worry. He really enjoys his foster home and misses his brother.

The is story is good and even though I picked the book up without reading the 1st book I still understood what was happening because the emails allowed you to understand the past, present, and where they think the future might lead them. It was a good story and one that I feel my middle school students would enjoy.

I was given an advance copy of the book for an honest review.

This is a great high/lo book for students. It has a very real message, but does so in a way that students with low comprehension could understand. I enjoyed the story a lot and my students will as well!

It was an enjoyable read, my daughter who is 12, really like it too. It's not a long book, so perfect for teenagers as well.

Victor and Isaac are two brothers played in separate foster care homes. Each messaging the other throughout the novel set in verse, we discover their new lives and old lives were their mother got into trouble resulting in where the boys are at now.

We see Victor struggle in his new home as he gets accused of being a their and for Isaac his dismay at not being able to stay at his foster home in the future it seems...


The focus of the book is on the relationship between the two brothers as they keep in touch online now they aren't with each other daily. We see the struggles of staying in touch, being unable to help their situation and reminiscing on the past happy times at home, quite emotional at moments and we see the stress of uncertainty hang over the boys as they face losing their ok for now foster homes.



It was a realistic and hard hitting book anyone can sympathise with their unfortunate and sad situation.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!