A review by rivulet027
A Long Way from Home by Laura Schaefer
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The look of wonder on Abby's face on the cover is what first made me interested in this book and I'm so glad that it did because I wasn't disappointed! Abby is an anxious twelve year old who's mother moves the entire family to Florida for work. And then the school assigns Abby a mentor, Juliana, to help her settle in! Suddenly Abby is living near her recluse of an aunt, her dad is busy remodeling the house, and her mother is working sixty hours a week! Abby is convinced this is a disaster and honestly who could blame her? When she meets two time travelers escaping to their time period seems to be the perfect solution.
What follows is a deft exploration of anxiety, first crushes, coping skills, and finding new friends while still maintaining friendships after a move. I really enjoyed that as Abby gets to know her Aunt Nora she starts to realizes that both her mom and aunt have similar experiences as her with anxiety and that they've both developed different ways of coping with that anxiety. I like that Abby thinks running away to the future will solve all her problems and lift her from the dystopian reality she believes she's living in and how over the course of her book she starts to see that the future isn't perfect and running away isn't the solution to her problems that she wants it to be. Alex and Bix dilemma of getting home was easy to get invested in and I also liked how their relationship with Abby and her family developed. The future slang the boys used took a moment to get used to, but was fun. I also really enjoyed how the author weaved in actually history and science into the book while using that to flesh out Abby's mother's job at SpaceNow and the future Alex and Bix come from.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the advanced review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
What follows is a deft exploration of anxiety, first crushes, coping skills, and finding new friends while still maintaining friendships after a move. I really enjoyed that as Abby gets to know her Aunt Nora she starts to realizes that both her mom and aunt have similar experiences as her with anxiety and that they've both developed different ways of coping with that anxiety. I like that Abby thinks running away to the future will solve all her problems and lift her from the dystopian reality she believes she's living in and how over the course of her book she starts to see that the future isn't perfect and running away isn't the solution to her problems that she wants it to be. Alex and Bix dilemma of getting home was easy to get invested in and I also liked how their relationship with Abby and her family developed. The future slang the boys used took a moment to get used to, but was fun. I also really enjoyed how the author weaved in actually history and science into the book while using that to flesh out Abby's mother's job at SpaceNow and the future Alex and Bix come from.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the advanced review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy