The Long Way Home

October 1, 2013
Martin continues the multigenerational saga begun in Better to Wish (2013) with this second entry, spanning the years 1955-1971. The spotlight is on Abby, Zander and their children. Twins Dana and Julia are 7 at the outset; their 4-year-old brother, Peter, has Down syndrome. Abby's accepted her role as mother, homemaker (in a large New York town house) and wife to now-famous author Zander Burley. Dana's enthralled with her father and resents her mother's disapproval of his drinking. When alcohol fuels Zander's death by drowning, the Burleys' world cracks open. Martin focuses on Dana's maturation against a glum backdrop of worsening finances (sister Nell is born five months after Zander's death) and multiple moves and new schools in New York and finally, back to Abby's home turf, Maine. An artist like her father, Dana is alone within her family. Released to live with her aunt in Manhattan, she flourishes at an arts high school. Abby's subsequent remarriage, a scary bout of meningitis for Julia and desultory family flares all happen rapid-fire, in chapters that bridge years and weave in (somewhat clumsily) historical events of the 1960s, ending with Dana poised for adulthood. Despite some wooden writing, Martin succeeds here by illuminating the fraught family relationships strained by separation, financial stress and individual aspiration. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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December 1, 2013

Gr 5-7-This installment spans 11 years and focuses on Dana. The book opens on July 7, 1955, as she and her twin, Julia, are celebrating their seventh birthday. Two years later, their younger brother, Peter, enters a school for children with "mental retardation." Their father, Zander, is a famous author, and while he tends to drink too much, the family has a comfortable and exciting life in New York City. However, things take a turn for the worse as the Burleys face unexpected challenges, including Zander's death in an accident, the birth of a child who will be fatherless, and financial insecurity. Martin does a good job of weaving in the history of the time period, including the Cold War and the assassination of President Kennedy. Time moves quickly with each chapter skipping ahead several months. The rapid passage of time and challenging issues may limit the audience, but tweens who have outgrown the "American Girl" series may enjoy this novel that explores the idea of family and home.-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2013
Grades 5-7 The story opens in 1955, as Dana and her identical twin, Julia, celebrate their seventh birthday. Julia clings to her sister by choosing an identical outfit to wear, while Dana's fervent, guilty wish is for a bedroom of her own. The nature of their push-pull sisterhood marks Dana's childhood in one way, while relationships with her father and mother also have long-term effects, which she comes to understand better as she grows older. The story concludes in 1971. Fans of the Family Tree series, which traces the lives of four girls in different generations of the same family, will have no trouble figuring out that the character sometimes referred to as Dana's mother and sometimes, somewhat confusingly, as Abby was the girl who grew up in book 1, Better to Wish (2013). While the novel's long time frame gives its structure an episodic quality, Martin's ability as a storyteller will keep readers turning the pages to find out what happens next, both to Dana and to Abby.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)