Louisiana’s Way Home
Cover Page
Title of Book: Louisiana’s Way Home
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Book Report By: G. Rao
Date: 23rd October 2025
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Copyright Year: 2018
Number of pages: 240
Ages: 9 - 13
Rating: * * * * *
About The Author
Kate DiCamillo is a 61 year old author is an amazing storyteller, aunt, and friend. She grew up in Clermont, Florida, but was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her favorite animal is a dog,(Woohoo!!!) and her favorite food is deep-fried ravioli. She obviously loves writing, but she also enjoys reading and spending time with her family. She has won numerous book awards such as the Newbery Honor twice, and the Newbery Medal once. She has won much more than those, but I couldn’t list them all because it would take too long. She’s written more than 30 children’s books! That took about 25 whole years! She is definitely an amazing author.
Book Summary
What kind of a situation do you think a young girl is in to have to wake up in the middle of the night to move to a completely different state? Louisiana's Way Home is set in the 1970s. It follows a 12 year old girl named Louisiana and her granny. It starts when Granny wakes her up at 3:00 am, because they have to move all of a sudden, to a different state. During this time, Louisiana faces many challenges such as getting lost and also injuring herself. At the end… wait a second! I can’t tell you the ending. Read the book to find out what happens next.
My Analysis
My favorite character is obviously Louisiana. She is the main character, and is featured on the front cover. She is an independent 12 year old girl who has a lot-and I mean a lot of charm. She manages to convince a store employee to give her 14 bags of peanuts! Can you imagine doing something like that?! One of her best friends has a dog named Buddy. Louisiana was really upset when she had to leave him. I understand why she doesn’t want to leave Florida. If I had to, I would be crying so much that I would make the Atlantic ocean look like a puddle! I feel bad that she has to go through such instability at such a young age.
I really dislike Mrs. Ivy, the receptionist at the dentist's office. The book describes her as a thin-lipped woman, which is usually a description of a woman that is not particularly friendly. In the beginning, when Granny has a horrible toothache while driving, Louisiana has to drive! She drives to the nearest dentist, and arrives at Dr. Fox’s office. Louisiana jumps out of the car to go and see if Granny can see the doctor. Mrs. Ivy says that she has to have an appointment to see him. Louisiana tells her that it is an emergency, and it happened last minute so she couldn’t make an appointment. Only when Granny comes into the office, Mrs. Ivy lets her in.
I think that the book is trying to send the message to the reader that while we're young, we learn to be smart, capable and independent. That way, when we grow older, we can help ourselves, and other people around us.
The book The Tale of Despereaux, and Flora and Ulysses both by Kate DiCamillo, talk about bravery. I bet Kate is very brave herself!
My Conclusion
You should absolutely read this heartfelt story combined with love, friendships, and going through challenges. This book is recommended for 9-13 year olds. 93% of people rate it very highly on Amazon. It is beautifully written, with excellent use of vocabulary. Kawser from Canada said “ It was a fantastic and powerful story.” It is also a New York Times Bestseller. I would rate 1,000,000/10 stars!
