All the Way Home

By Patricia Reilly Giff

Book Overview

It's August 1941, and Brick and Mariel both love the Brooklyn Dodgers. Brick listens to their games on the radio in Windy Hill, in upstate New York, where his family has an apple orchard; Mariel, once a polio patient in the hospital in Windy Hill, lives in Brooklyn near the Dodgers' home, Ebbets Field. She was adopted by Loretta, a nurse at the hospital, and has never known what happened to her own mother. Someday, somehow, she plans to return to Windy Hill and find out. When a fire destroys their orchard, Brick's parents must leave the farm to find work. They send him to live in Brooklyn with their friend Loretta, even though Brick knows that their elderly neighbors need his help to pick what's left of the apples. The only good thing about Brooklyn is seeing the Dodgers play-that, and his friendship with Mariel. Maybe, together, they'll find a way to return to Windy Hill, save the harvest, and learn the truth about Mariel's past.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440411823
• ISBN13: 9780440411826
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Rh Childrens Books
• Length: 169 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

All the Way Home

The book called All the Way Home by Patricia Reilly Giff is a very good book. It's about a boy named Brick. He and his family used to live in a small house on an apple orchard but when a fire destroys it his parents have to find work. And Brick has to go live with his parent's friend Loretta. Loretta lives in Brooklyn with her adopted daughter Muriel. Muriel once had polio at a hospital in Windy Hill were Brick used to live. Loretta was a nurse at the hospital that Muriel went to and she adopted her because her mother never came back for her. So this story is about Muriel trying to find her mother and Brick trying to get back to Windy Hill to save the apple harvest. I liked this book and I would recommend this book because it is very exciting. This book gets right to the point and you never want to put it down. I liked how it had two stories weaved together and how Brick and Muriel both had some kind of similarities with in each other. I thought the book All the Way Home was a very good book for all ages.

Intriguing, well crafted novel for young readers.

Brick and Mariel share their interest in the Dodgers team in 1941 where it seems they share little else in common. Mariel is determined to know her real mother, who left her in the hospital with polio, and Brick's parents must abandon their family farm when disaster strikes, sending him to live with nurse Loretta. The three form an unusual, different kind of family with renewed dreams for the future.

Just Can't Miss This Book

A young girl searches for truth of her beginings in life and discovers how precious she is. Even with polio a young nurse still wants to adopt her and raise her as her own. Her adoptive mother believes she can do anything, even with polio, so she wants her to go out there and make a difference. Truly not a story to be overlooked or past by. It you never read another book.... read this one.

Lovely Story

This is a lovely historical novel for young people. With both a male and female point of view -- the book is a great choice for both boys and girls and would make a wonderful addition to any school curriculum. Both characters are nicely characterized and are admirable people without being too perfect to be real. The bonds between Brick, Mariel, the wonderful secondary characters and the Brooklyn Dodgers make for a warm and satisfying story of a different era that has lessons to teach us today as we too face uncertainty and war.