Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date.
For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now.
Narrated by Cassandra Morris
Kate DiCamilloUnabridged — 3 hours, 34 minutes
Narrated by Cassandra Morris
Kate DiCamilloUnabridged — 3 hours, 34 minutes
Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
Already Subscribed?
Sign in to Your BN.com Account
FREE
with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription
From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are—and deciding who you want to be.
When Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn't overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana's life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town—including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder—she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana's and Granny's heads. But that is a story for another time.)
Called "one of DiCamillo's most singular and arresting creations" by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale—and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.
Louisiana, with her quick, insightful takes on everyone she meets, grabbed readers' hearts in Raymie Nightingale, and in this book she isn't about to let go. Though her life has been filled with hardship and uncertainty—and there are more painful secrets to come—she continues to operate with a sense of wonder and practical optimism (the pages shine with it).
★ 08/13/2018
Fans of Newbery Medalist DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale will delight in finding out what becomes of Raymie’s orphaned friend Louisiana Elefante in this “story of woe and confusion” that is also a “story of joy and kindness and free peanuts.” In Florida, 12-year-old narrator Louisiana is whisked out of bed at 3 a.m. by her grandmother—her caretaker—who declares that “the day of reckoning has arrived” and they must leave straightaway. The trip is aborted in Richford, Ga., when suffering Granny has to have all her teeth removed. Stuck in a motel while her grandmother recuperates, homesick Louisiana seethes with resentment but is distracted by young Burke Allen, who has a pet crow and knows how to get free food from the vending machine. Then Granny abandons Louisiana, leaving her with nothing but a letter revealing that everything Louisiana knows about her past is a lie. Populated with unforgettable characters, including kindhearted adults who recognize Louisiana’s dire situation and offer options, this bittersweet novel shows a deep understanding of children’s emotions and celebrates their resiliency. Readers will feel as much empathy for Louisiana as they did for her friend Raymie. Ages 10–up. (Oct.)
Louisiana, with her quick, insightful takes on everyone she meets, grabbed readers’ hearts in ‘Raymie Nightingale,’ and in this book she isn’t about to let go. Though her life has been filled with hardship and uncertainty — and there are more painful secrets to come — she continues to operate with a sense of wonder and practical optimism (the pages shine with it).
—The New York Times Book Review
DiCamillo offers a master class in how to tell and shape a story once all fat has been cut away. Though set in the mid-1970s, there’s fairy-tale quality to this, with heroes, helpers, villains, and one princess looking for home.
—Booklist (starred review)
Readers who first encountered Louisiana in Raymie Nightingale (2016) will be heartened to learn more about her...For readers who relish thoughtfully constructed plots, well-developed characters, and carefully crafted language, this will be a special treat.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
DiCamillo builds a resilient and sympathetic character in Louisiana, and the juxtaposition of her down-to-earth observations with Granny’s capriciousness lightens the narrative and allows for a good deal of humor...The overarching themes addressing forgiveness, love, friendship, acceptance, home, and family (“Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up”) ring honest and true.
—The Horn Book (starred review)
Populated with unforgettable characters, including kindhearted adults who recognize Louisiana’s dire situation and offer options, this bittersweet novel shows a deep understanding of children’s emotions and celebrates their resiliency. Readers will feel as much empathy for Louisiana as they did for her friend Raymie.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
DiCamillo is able to address complex topics in an accessible and ultimately hopeful way. There is never sadness without comfort, fear without consolation. Louisiana’s soul-searching is no exception and further solidifies DiCamillo’s reputation as a skilled storyteller who trusts her readers to wrestle with hard things. A thoughtful and finely written story that earns its place among DiCamillo’s other beloved novels.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
The tale is...gently told, as much fairy tale as realistic story, in language that’s lovely in its plainspoken illuminations, with the focus on Louisiana’s longing for connection and observations about the people she encounters on the road and in the small 1970s Georgia town. Ultimately this is a deeply sweet but not saccharine take on the old story of an orphan child lost and found, and readers won’t have to know the first book to bond with Louisiana and wish fervently for her to find a home.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
DiCamillo's funny and hugely likable Louisiana has a marvelous way with words and a spirit that will not rest until she finds her way home, wherever that may be…Louisiana, one of the trio of friends from Kate DiCamillo's Raymie Nightingale, returns in her own beautiful, bittersweet middle-grade stand-alone about finding her home... and herself.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)
In this funny yet philosophical melodrama, 12-year old Louisiana Elefante recalls her identity crisis, forced when eccentric Granny claims “a date with destiny."...Disparate elements miraculously mesh — stars, smiles, magic, bologna sandwiches, a pet crow and cakes. Here, a two-time Newbery award winner brilliantly guides the dear Louisiana through lies, secrets, anger and abandonment and toward understanding, belonging, gratitude and forgiveness.
—San Francisco Chronicle
Almost effortlessly, DiCamillo explores some of the biggest, most important questions of life — What is home? What is family? Who decides what kind of person we get to be? — in this deceivingly simple and profoundly moving novel.
—Star Tribune
DiCamillo peoples her tale with colorful, unforgettable characters, although brave,thoughtful, kind Louisiana is the most memorable of all. Young as she is, Louisiana knows to appreciate rare moments of grace and kindness ("there is goodness in many hearts": the gas station clerk who gives her free bags of peanuts, a woman in the dentist's waiting room who gives her a tin of chocolate chip cookies), and she understands the healing power of forgiveness.
—Buffalo News
‘You are not alone in the world,’ reads the grandmother’s farewell letter in ‘Louisiana’s Way Home’ (Candlewick, 227 pages, $16.99), Kate DiCamillo’s tender, sorrowful, life-embracing sequel to her 2016 novel, ‘Raymie Nightingale.’
—The Wall Street Journal
This poignant story of loss echoes with themes of hope and redemption.
—World Magazine
DiCamillo's genius is finding comedy in tragedy, humanity in darkness. Here, the spirited Louisiana Elefante meets loss head on and finds a way home.
—Scholastic Teacher
In Kate DiCamillo’s beautiful follow-up to Raymie Nightingale, Louisiana Elefante is back...The book strikes a delicate balance between relating a charming, entertaining story full of colorful characters and imparting a deeply meaningful life lesson about deciding what kind of person to be.
—ForeWord Reviews
DiCamillo reveals the strength and fight in Louisiana...once again Louisiana finds just the right people to help ground her.
—NPR Books
This is a marvelous book, full of heart but without a drop of cheap sentimentality. . . . What a pleasure it is to read a story in which the author’s faith in the goodness of ‘average’ people is set forth with such vigor and confidence. This celebration of kindness is itself a kindness to the reader and an encouragement to hope.
—Dean Koontz, bestselling author
I really really like Louisiana’s Way Home, a slim, handsome novel about grace.
—Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (blog)
I will read anything Kate DiCamillo writes; the two-time Newbery medalist never disappoints with her stories for younger readers. Her latest finely-crafted tale follows 12-year-old Louisiana Elefante through an unforgettable fable about grace, hardships and discovery.
—Aspen Daily News
It’s hard to imagine this story being told in any other way than through the words and unique viewpoint of Louisiana herself. The characters wouldn’t come to life in the same way, the setting would be ordinary, and the plot might not be compelling.
—Heavy Medal (blog)
★ 09/01/2018
Gr 3–6—DiCamillo returns to a character she introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale. In a first-person account, spirited 10-year-old Louisiana Elefante tells the story of being abruptly awoken by her grandmother in the middle of the night. Together, they trek to Georgia where emergency dental surgery and a nearly empty wallet cause them to stop in their tracks. Stuck in the rural town of Richford, Louisiana must find a way home to her friends. An old family curse that prevents any Elefante from forging long-lasting relationships looms over her. Through a series of chance encounters with the eclectic residents of the small town, Louisiana discovers the power of her own voice and her ability to set her own course. DiCamillo is able to address complex topics in an accessible and ultimately hopeful way. There is never sadness without comfort, fear without consolation. Louisiana's soul-searching is no exception and further solidifies DiCamillo's reputation as a skilled storyteller who trusts her readers to wrestle with hard things. VERDICT A thoughtful and finely written story that earns its place among DiCamillo's other beloved novels.—Katherine Hickey, Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma City
Narrator Cassandra Morris embraces the dreamy quality of Louisiana Elefante, one of three friends who first appeared in RAYMIE NIGHTINGALE. Here her grandmother, formerly a minor character, becomes a brutally strong force. She wakes Louisiana in the middle of the night and whisks her away from the stability she’s found, pulling her into a mad plan for a “date with destiny.” Morris reflects the 12-year-old’s increasing alarm as her grandmother grows stranger, needier, and more remote until she disappears entirely, leaving only a note. This note reveals that the past Louisiana believed in was a fabrication. Morris embodies the lost and lonely Louisiana who wonders where she will fit in the world. Morris’s wonderful narration gives voice to the loving forces around Louisiana and the lyrical voice DiCamillo has created for her character. S.W. 2019 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
★ 2018-06-25
Abandoned twice over, Louisiana Elefante discovers in herself the "magic that puts things back together.""There is a great deal of power in writing things down," Louisiana observes as she begins her chronicle, a powerful tale of finding her way home. In a convincing first-person voice, the 12-year-old relates the facts of her 1977 journey to Richford, Georgia. She takes note of surprising details and adds her own philosophical thoughts. Readers who first encountered Louisiana in Raymie Nightingale (2016) will be heartened to learn more about her, but this is a stand-alone tale of how she lifted the "curse of sundering" she thought was her legacy. This is not only a story of a child deciding who she wants to be, but also of the power of generosity, especially in the family of Burke Allen, the boy who becomes her friend after she has left Raymie and Beverly behind in Florida. Louisiana's life with her grandmother has not been easy, but she has some amazing talents: a voice like an angel and skill at convincing others to meet her needs. Much about her experiences could be devastatingly sad—sometimes this vulnerable white child makes other characters cry—but there's also humor, especially in Louisiana's biting observations about some of the adults around her. The book adheres to the white default.For readers who relish thoughtfully constructed plots, well-developed characters, and carefully crafted language, this will be a special treat. (Historical fiction. 9-13)
| BN ID: | 2940172082771 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 10/02/2018 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 10 - 13 Years |
One
I am going to write it all down, so that what happened to me will be known, so that if someone were to stand at their window at night and look up at the stars and think, My goodness, whatever happened to Louisiana Elefante? Where did she go? they will have an answer. They will know.
This is what happened.
I will begin at the beginning.
. . .
The beginning is that my great-grandfather was a magician, and long, long ago he set into motion a most terrible curse.
But right now you do not need to know the details of the terrible curse. You only need to know that it exists and that it is a curse that has been passed down from generation to generation.
It is, as I said, a terrible curse.
And now it has landed upon my head.
Keep that in mind.
We left in the middle of the night.
Granny woke me up. She said, “The day of reckoning has arrived. The hour is close at hand. We must leave immediately.”
It was three a.m.
We went out to the car and the night was very dark, but the stars were shining brightly.
Oh, there were so many stars!
And I noticed that some of the stars had arranged themselves into a shape that looked very much like someone with a long nose telling a lie — the Pinocchio constellation!
I pointed out the starry Pinocchio to Granny, but she was not at all interested. “Hurry, hurry,” said Granny. “There is no time for stargazing. We have a date with destiny.”
So I got in the car and we drove away.
I did not think to look behind me.
How could I have known that I was leaving for good?
I thought that I was caught up in some middle-of-the-night idea of Granny’s and that when the sun came up, she would think better of the whole thing.
This has happened before.
Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas.
I fell asleep and when I woke up, we were still driving. The sun was coming up, and I saw a sign that said Georgia: 20 miles.
Georgia!
We were about to change states, and Granny was still driving as fast as she could, leaning close to the windshield because her eyesight is not very good and she is too vain to wear glasses, and also because she is very short (shorter, almost, than I am) and she has to lean close to reach the gas pedal.
In any case, the sun was bright. It was lighting up the splotches and stains on the windshield and making them look like glow-in-the-dark stars that someone had pasted there as a surprise for me.
I love stars.
Oh, how I wish that someone had pasted glow-in-the-dark stars on our windshield!
However, that was not the case.
I said, “Granny, when are we going to turn around and go back home?”
Granny said, “We are never going to turn around, my darling. The time for turning around has ended.”
“Why?” I said.
“Because the hour of reckoning has arrived,” said Granny in a very serious voice, “and the curse at last must be confronted.”
“But what about Archie?”
At this point in my account of what became of me, it is necessary for you to know that Archie is my cat and that Granny has taken him from me before.
Yes, taken! It is truly a tragic tale. But never mind about that.
“Provisions have been made,” said Granny.
“What sort of provisions?”
“The cat is in good hands,” said Granny.
Well, this was what Granny had said to me the last time she took Archie, and I did not like the sound of her words one bit.
Also, I did not believe her.
It is a dark day when you do not believe your granny.
It is a day for tears.
I started to cry.
. . .
I cried until we crossed over the Florida-Georgia state line.
But then something about the state line woke me up. State lines can do that. Maybe you understand what I am talking about and maybe you don’t. All I can say is that I had a sudden feeling of irrevocableness and I thought, I have to get out of this car. I have to go back.
So I said, “Granny, stop the car.”
And Granny said, “I will do no such thing.”
Granny has never listened to other people’s instructions. She has never heeded anyone’s commands. She is the type of person who tells other people what to do, not vice versa.
But in the end, it didn’t matter that Granny refused to stop the car, because fate intervened.
And by that I mean to say that we ran out of gas.
. . .
If you have not left your home in the middle of the night without even giving it a backward glance; if you have not left your cat and your friends and also a one-eyed dog named Buddy without getting to tell any of them good-bye; if you have not stood on the side of the road in Georgia, somewhere just past the irrevocable state line, and waited for someone to come along and give you a ride, well, then you cannot understand the desperation that was in my heart that day.
Which is exactly why I am writing all of this down.
So that you will understand the desperation — the utter devastation — in my heart.
And also, as I said at the beginning, I am writing it down for somewhat more practical matters.
And those more practical matters are so that you will know what happened to me — Louisiana Elefante.
In 2016, Kate DiCamillo’s poignant coming-of-age story introduced readers to the indomitable Raymie Clarke, a young girl determined to win back her wayward father by winning the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest and getting her picture in the paper. Now, we’re thrilled to reveal the hauntingly beautiful cover for the Barnes & Noble Exclusive […]
It’s decorative gourd season, so you know what that means—time to stock up on all your favorite pumpkin spice–flavored delights, cozy sweaters, Halloween candy, and some stellar new reads hitting the shelves this month for your kiddos. We’ve harvested some of our faves, including new additions to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork […]
It’s the end of the year, which means it’s time to talk about the best books for young readers that came out this year! 2018 featured some incredible middle grade reads, including robotic adventures and poignant road trips, incredible graphic novels and stories of magic and mystery. But what titles shined above the rest? Here, […]
If you’re gearing up for a long car ride during the winter break with your middle schoolers, it’s a good time to stock up on some new audio books. There so many reasons to be grateful for books-on-tape: they don’t make you carsick, they’re fun for both parents and kids, and they might provide some […]
