No Place Like Home
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A middle-grade novel by James Bird about homelessness and hope.
When home is a car, life is unpredictable. School, friends, and three meals a day aren't guaranteed. Not every town has a shelter where a family can sleep for a night or two, and places with parking lots don't welcome overnight stays.
Opin, his brother Emjay, and their mother are trying to get to Los Angeles, where they hope an uncle and a new life are waiting. Emjay has taken to disappearing for days, slowing down the family's progress and adding to their worry.
Then Opin finds a stray dog who needs him as much as he needs her, and his longing for a stable home intensifies, as his brother's reckless ways hit a new high. Opin makes a new friend in the shelter, but shelters don't allow dogs...
Will anything other than a real home ever be enough?
About this Author
James Bird is the author of The Brave, a Book Riot Best Book of 2020 and praised as "full of heart, authenticity, and courage" by School Library Journal in a starred review, and The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls, which Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books called "grounded in love." He is also a screenwriter and director at the independent film company, Zombot Pictures. Originally from California, James Bird is of Ojibwe descent, and now lives in Massachusetts with his wife, the author and actor Adriana Mather, and their son.
Reviews
A Book Riot "Best New Children's Book of August 2023"
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2023
A 2024 Bank Street Best Book of the Year
"Bird's latest novel is a big-hearted story of growing up through hardship, told in language rich with metaphor and poetry. ... Highly recommended for middle school and public libraries, especially those seeking to add works from contemporary Native voices."--School Library Journal, starred review
"Author Bird crafts this deeply felt ode to familial love with authoritative prose.... Opin's palpable fears, joys, and unrelenting hope buoy this tale of resilience." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"James Bird, who has been homeless and is of Ojibwe descent, writes with rare authority, insight, and compassion that invites deep empathy from readers. He has done a beautiful job of creating an unforgettable family, who, as Inde says, "may be broke, but we're not broken." -- Booklist, starred review
"An urban Native American boy's gripping survival story...complex and emotionally resonant." -- Kirkus Reviews
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