The Distance to Home

Reviewed by: Paula Johnson - Long Island community Library, Long Island, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2017

Review

The author,Jenn Bishop, does a wonderful job combining many subject areas that will appeal to middle age readers. She explores the subjects of sibling and parental relationships, growing up, grief, friendships, quilt, dreams and determination all woven into a believable story of baseball. The author tells the story effectively by weaving chapters between the present summer and the previous summer. Although the story does deal with a death in the family, the use of past and present helps show the different stages of grief and how the characters deal with it. The characters were presented realistically and it was interesting watching them grow over a year's time. Part of the baseball thread dealt with families hosting minor league players in their homes, just as is done in our area, and may make the story very appealing to young Maine readers.

Overall Book Score: excellent