A Long Way from Home

Description

Twelve-year-old Abby has a lot to worry about: Climate change. The news. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And now moving to Florida for her mom's new job at an aerospace company. On the Space Coast, Abby meets two boys, Adam and Bix, who tell her they're "a long way from home" and need her help. Abby discovers they're from the future, from a time when all the problems of the 21st century have been solved. Thrilled, Abby strikes a deal with them: She'll help them--if they let her come to the future with them. But soon Abby is forced to question her attachment to a perfect future and her complicated feelings about the present.

Laura Schaefer is the author of The Teashop Girls, The Secret Ingredient, and Littler Women: A Modern Retelling. Born and raised in Wisconsin, Laura currently lives in Windermere, Florida, with her husband and daughter, where she enjoys visiting theme parks and watching rocket launches from her front yard. Visit her online at lauraschaeferwriter.com and twitter.com/teashopgirl.

"A blend of fantasy, science fiction, and coming-of-age, Laura Schaefer's smart middle-grade novel is A Wrinkle in Time for the modern day. From the first gripping page to the clever twist at the end, A Long Way from Home is sure to delight both avid and reluctant readers of all ages. You won't want to miss this remarkable book." --Karen McQuestion, author of The Watchful Woods series -- "Other Print" (5/1/2022 12:00:00 AM) "At the start of this thought-provoking sci-fi novel, Abby, twelve, is unhappy and pessimistic: she misses her old life in Pennsylvania (her family has moved to Florida's Space Coast for her physicist mom's job) and obsesses about societal and environmental ills. Then she meets Adam and Bix, who tell her they've come 'from a long distance away' and are on an urgent mission to find Adam's lost sister, Vanessa; in fact, they're from the twenty-third century. Adam allows Abby a glimpse of that future, a world of 'creation, possibility, exploration, and abundance, ' and Abby instantly decides that she wants to live there. She promises to do all she can to help Adam and Bix if they agree to take her with them when they go. The tension of the boys' quest will keep readers invested (the future isn't totally perfect; if they don't find Vanessa ASAP, an alien pathogen will be released into Earth's population). But Abby's situation is equally engrossing should she stay, or should she go? She considers all she'd be leaving behind--friends; family; the community she's just starting to feel at home in; and, most of all, the chance to make a difference in her own time. The twist at the end may not be the most original, but it allows for a happy ending readers will embrace."--The Horn Book Magazine -- "Journal" (1/1/2023 12:00:00 AM) "Funny, fact-filled, and philosophical. This is an inspiring story for any kid who has been forced to move--to a new school, a new state, or a new point on the space-time continuum."--Edward Bloor, author of Tangerine and Taken -- "Other Print" (5/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)