LOVED this one! So soft and gentle and pulls on all the heartstrings. I purchased this for my elementary library soon after I finished it and recommend it to students and staff whenever I can.

I am finding that my thoughts about this book are all over the place just like the written thoughts of the main character seemed to me to be.

It is written in verse from the perspective of a young girl who has been removed from her parents care and placed with her wealthy aunt.

The reader learns about birds, sickle cell anemia, the foster care system, therapy dog training, addiction and rehab, family dysfunction and therapy, anxiety and it was just so much in such a short book that I am left with swirling thoughts that have no place to land.

It does have good lessons to be gleaned and a myriad of jumping off places for discussion especially for a child who can relate to the life these children and families have lived.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a novel in verse which is perfect for struggling readers! The story is relatable and I highly recommend!

I loved this story. While Laura didn't like the season of her life, developed a plan to change it. As she was overcoming and growing in the situation she faced, she was surrounded by a loving aunt. it was a relatable, heartfelt story. I love how the dog who needed to be rescued and healed was a part of the healing and rescue process for Laura.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

We tend to think of a kid being placed with a relative as different from "standard" foster care. This novel challenges that assumption. Laura's fear, guilt, and sense of isolation are no different with her aunt than they would be with a total stranger. Being a verse novel, it's highly reflective and deeply honest about emotions and life experience.

Something Like Home is a lovely verse novel that tackles kinship care in the foster system. Laura is currently living with her aunt, but wishing she could reunite with her parents. After rescuing a lost pup, she decides to train Sparrow to be a therapy dog. This story is tough, but the reality is that many children live this way in our world. I definitely think my older students would appreciate the feelings Laura expresses.

This book was absolutely beautiful and I read through it in one sitting. It had me sobbing through the entirety of it (that's how you know it was good). Wow wow wow this is a must read for anyone, but especially teachers and students who may not be familiar with the foster system.

A beautifully written novel-in-verse for a middle grade audience that highlights a situation where a child may not live with their parents. Laura is recently sent to live with her aunt, after calling 911 due to her parents overdosing. Laura feels extreme guilt and misses her parents while they are in rehab.

An interesting perspective and voice that is rarely written about for middle school students, provided in a way that is extremely accessible.

I thought that this in-verse novel was easy to read and had very real problems that kids could find themselves understanding. I really liked the representation in this novel and believe that all children can relate to the characters.

Andrea Beatriz Arango's follow-up to her Newbery Honor-winning debut is not without strife, but it is more heartwearming and soft in tone. Laura's story shows how much foster and kinship care children miss their families and are not easily "saved" by their new guardians. She has a big heart, and of course training her dog is adorable. I also appreciated the storyline with her friend as she navigates that.

Realistic handling of the guilt for calling 911 when parents may have overdosed and then being placed in kinship care. Laura is not thrilled to be assigned to kinship care with her aunt, whom she barely knows, after calling 911 when her parents possibly overdose. Laura works hard to be reunited with her parents, writing to them often, but they don't seem to be working as hard as she is. When it looks like her mother has shown up, out of the blue, to claim her, Laura knows this is not the way things should be. How can it be so hard to not be with the ones you love?

This is such an amazing amazing book. Andrea Beatriz Arango does not disappoint! This book follows Laura, a foster kid, who is separated from her parents when they go to rehab, and moves in with her aunt who's her temporary guardian. Laura is navigating a lot of life changes--a move, a new school, a new friend, and her harboring resentment towards her aunt. Laura's story was written with so much care and intention, and I love how Andrea allowed the readers to experience the complexity of Laura's emotions. I really enjoyed her friendship with Ben and her love for her dog.

It is a difficult, but moving and emotional read. I highly recommend.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. The downfall was that I requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before the book was archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango.
This is a heartwarming story about a girl, a dog, and an aunt that is trying to make life better for all of them. This book is told in short sections which will make it more appealing to struggling readers. Children will also be able to relate to having a pet that helps you through life's difficult situations. Although this book deals with difficult subjects, it offers hope.

Something Like Home was a gut wrenching (but also lifting) novel about a little girl named Laura who is separated from her parents and forced to live with her aunt. The journey is tough, but she finds a beautiful friendship with a dog and lots of healing along the way. This novel was in verse and beautifully written. 4.25 stars. Thank you to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseChildren’s for allowing me a copy in return for an honest review.

Andrea’s first book, “Iveliz Explains It All” is one of my favorite middle grade books—one of my favorite books, period—and this sophomore release only further solidified exactly why that is.

The story is tender and hard-hitting in a lot of ways, but it’s also full of hope and light. It’s deeply emotional and doesn’t shy away from topics like child neglect, parents with substance abuse issues, what it’s like to adjust dynamics when a secondary family member becomes your primary caregiver—but it’s done with such care and grace.

I feel like the through-line for Andrea’s books so far is this concept—this truth—that while children don’t always have the power to advocate for themselves, they do in fact have agency, and they do know exactly what they need, even if it might be difficult for them to ask or express. I really appreciate the way she captures these young characters’ rich inner lives, the complexities of how they process difficult things even when they don’t have the context or experience that adults might have, and the nuance of showing how despite that lack of context, they still have every right to their feelings. Like I said, showing kids that they have agency, even in the most difficult of situations when that agency is ignored or undermined, is so incredibly powerful and extremely necessary, and I think “Something Like Home” is a brilliant take on that subject.

Also, while I don’t think the purpose of fiction or the value of fiction is in its ability to educate or inform, this story does shed a lot of light on kinship care, which is actually a form of foster care where a child goes into the care of a family member when they can’t be with their parents in order to minimize trauma and maintain a connection with their families. I think that’s a form of guardianship and a type of family dynamic that a lot of people aren’t aware of—at least in an official legal capacity—and I appreciate how even though kinship care is kind of idealistic in its conceit, the story shows all the complexity of navigating that shift in dynamic.

For me, this story feels like it has a lot of thematic overlap with “The Beautiful Something Else” by Ash Van Otterloo, another incredible recent release, especially in the way it explores how children with abusive or negligent upbringings can take on the burden of their parents’ problems and internalize them as something they have to account for and they have to fix. A lot of the story is Laura trying to make up for that misplaced guilt, feeling responsible for what her parents are going through, and ultimately realizing that it’s possible for her to want something better for herself *and* want something better for her parents. Those are not competing but rather coexisting desires.

As the title implies, this story is really an exploration of not only what it means to have a home, but to *feel* at home, and all the different forms that can take. Laura’s journey is not an easy one, and the story doesn’t attempt to offer any definitive answers or solutions to a situation that has a lot of moving parts, which I really appreciate. This was such a beautiful story, I definitely cried at the end, and I gave it a huge five stars.

Both tender and raw in equal measure, Laura's story makes your heart ache - for her, for families affected by substance abuse, for stray dogs, and for all kids struggling to find their footing in a world full of uncertainties. Small details in this book - like the fact that Laura wears glasses - help to make this story feel lived in. I also appreciated Laura's friend Benson, who has sickle cell anemia. He has a bright, positive attitude, but is not used solely as an "inspiration trope." His experience of friends drifting away when his illness feels like "too much" for them is one that kids with chronic illnesses face all too often. It was great to see it brought up here so matter-of-factly.

Love, love, love! Absolutely 5 stars. Written in the most beautiful prose format. An 11 year old girl calls 911 when her parents are unconscious due to pill/drug overdoses and child services place her in custody with her aunt/Titi whom she has had no prior contact. (With the 11 year old protagonist/Laura, this book is classified as childrens and/or middle grade fiction. But this is one of my favorite books of the year. Seriously!)

As part of the story the 11 year old also rescues a dog she has found in a crate on the side of the road (with "Free Dog" sign) that is nearly dehydrated and she and her aunt get it much needed care.

So many positives in this book, but the strongest are of family, friendship and that not every family is of the cookie cutter mold.

The copy reviewed is the advance read copy via the publisher and NetGalley, around 68 pages. But Goodreads indicates that the book is 256 pages. I never do this ... but I have the final published version on order because I want to compare the two versions. I'm pretty sure that it is just a matter of formatting, but honestly ... I don't want to miss an ounce of this book ... it has grasped my heartstrings just that much. (I've never done that before, compared ARC to published copy. And I am so anxious to do so!) So once again, many thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to Andrea Beatriz Arango and her 4th book. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Random House Books for Young Readers. Publication date is Sept 12, 2023. The cover is just beautiful as well; illustrated by Katrina Damkoehler.

I'm likely to update once i compare final copy with ARC. Don't miss this one!

"Something Like Home" by Andrea Beatriz Arango is an incredible children's / middle grade story about eleven year old Laura who, as a result of her parents' drug addiction, is now living with her Aunt Titi as part of DCS's kinship care program. As heartbreaking as her situation is, Laura slowly comes to realize that the healthiest, safest home isn't always one that includes your parents.

As an educator, I've seen how devastating the loss of or separation from a parent can be to a child. My heart broke for Laura as it has for my students, but I was comforted by the care and attention Arango showed to the kinship foster care system and how it is possible for families to slowly heal from such devastating wounds. I'd highly recommend this book to my fellow educators as well as students of all ages.