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Someplace to Go
A young boy, Davey, talks about his family's struggle with fear, embarrassment, and uncertainty in the world of homelessness after his mother loses her job and her apartment
- GenresPoverty
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1996
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Maria Testa
12 books6 followers"My father was not a storyteller," says Maria Testa, author of the critically acclaimed poetic novels SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, ALMOST FOREVER and BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO. "Our family was not the kind that sat on the front porch, sipping lemonade and listening to the elders reminisce. We were doers and did not spend a lot of time on verbal reflection."
How then, did Maria Testa come to write three deeply affecting novels? Maria Testa's latest novel, SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, was inspired by true events in Lewiston, Maine. Narrated by a young daughter from Kosova, this nuanced and deeply moving tale explores immigration in contemporary America.
Previously, Maria Testa has found inspiration from her family history. "Sometime, without remembering when, exactly, I learned about my father's life before me, before Vietnam, before medical school," she says of BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, which takes readers back to the summer of 1936. "Maybe it was in the car, out in the yard playing catch or pulling weeds, at the dinner table, or between the innings of a Yankees game on television. Somehow, without remembering how, exactly, I learned about a radio, a garden, a grandfather, and Joe Dimaggio. So maybe my father was a storyteller after all."
With ALMOST FOREVER, Maria Testa moves ahead to the 1960s to evoke--through the eyes of a six-year-old girl--the experience of seeing one's father march off to Vietnam to serve a year in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. "It is a tribute to the children of Vietnam veterans and to those who did not come home from war," she says. "It is my hope that we can always remember ourselves as children, so as not to forget the new generation of young people still waiting for the end of forever."
The recipient of a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Work-in-Progress Grant for BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, Maria Testa has garnered extraordinary praise for her spare, gripping novels. "Powerfully moving, as it braids together baseball, family, and the Italian-American experience," said BOOKLIST's starred review BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, which was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book for Children, an IRA Children's Choice, and a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Winner, among other accolades. "A tour de force," raves a starred review ALMOST FOREVER in KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Rapt readers don't need to know anything about Vietnam to understand love, loss, fear, and waiting."
Maria Testa has written three picture books for children and a collection of short stories for young adults. She is also the author of another book about baseball, SOME KIND OF PRIDE, which was awarded the Marguerite De Angeli Prize for a first middle-grade novel. Maria Testa grew up in Rhode Island and now lives in Portland, Maine, with her family.
How then, did Maria Testa come to write three deeply affecting novels? Maria Testa's latest novel, SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, was inspired by true events in Lewiston, Maine. Narrated by a young daughter from Kosova, this nuanced and deeply moving tale explores immigration in contemporary America.
Previously, Maria Testa has found inspiration from her family history. "Sometime, without remembering when, exactly, I learned about my father's life before me, before Vietnam, before medical school," she says of BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, which takes readers back to the summer of 1936. "Maybe it was in the car, out in the yard playing catch or pulling weeds, at the dinner table, or between the innings of a Yankees game on television. Somehow, without remembering how, exactly, I learned about a radio, a garden, a grandfather, and Joe Dimaggio. So maybe my father was a storyteller after all."
With ALMOST FOREVER, Maria Testa moves ahead to the 1960s to evoke--through the eyes of a six-year-old girl--the experience of seeing one's father march off to Vietnam to serve a year in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. "It is a tribute to the children of Vietnam veterans and to those who did not come home from war," she says. "It is my hope that we can always remember ourselves as children, so as not to forget the new generation of young people still waiting for the end of forever."
The recipient of a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Work-in-Progress Grant for BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, Maria Testa has garnered extraordinary praise for her spare, gripping novels. "Powerfully moving, as it braids together baseball, family, and the Italian-American experience," said BOOKLIST's starred review BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, which was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book for Children, an IRA Children's Choice, and a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Winner, among other accolades. "A tour de force," raves a starred review ALMOST FOREVER in KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Rapt readers don't need to know anything about Vietnam to understand love, loss, fear, and waiting."
Maria Testa has written three picture books for children and a collection of short stories for young adults. She is also the author of another book about baseball, SOME KIND OF PRIDE, which was awarded the Marguerite De Angeli Prize for a first middle-grade novel. Maria Testa grew up in Rhode Island and now lives in Portland, Maine, with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 26, 2014
This story is about a young boy named Davey and how he copes with being homeless. I thought that this book was good and definitely a reality check. This young boy is homeless because his mother lost her job awhile ago and now they have to sleep at a shelter. This book covers what he does on his spare time while he waits for the soup kitchen to open and how he feels. While reading the story the colors and illustrations really set the mood and tone. I could tell that the author and illustrator really wanted you to feel what Davey was feeling and going through. I think this book is definitely relatable especially now. I feel like a lot of people whether they have been homeless or not have lost money due to the recession in the past and the cost of living. I think this is a great book to have in a classroom because it opens other students eyes to be aware that people do live like this and it is okay. Everyone is in a different boat at different times. We just have to be able to accept it and lend a helping hand.
February 22, 2021
This book is about a young boy that has to kill time before he is able to go to the homeless shelter. I really enjoyed the plot of the book. The illustrations provided a sense of realism that really helped me step into the shoes of the main character. When I read this book, I read it in the voice of the main character. I would recommend this book for students in 4th grade and up.
October 24, 2019
Davey cannot go to the homeless shelter until 8 pm. He has to keep busy and warm from the time school lets out until then. Where will he go? What will he do? Where is his family? Good story about a homeless family and the struggle they face every day. Good for 4th graders on up.
April 14, 2014
Someplace to go
This is a different kind of children books. Because the main theme is a boy named Davey how to spend the after-class time. In most books, there are many happy, funny, and fantastic plots. But this book is so different that it focus on loneness. I think there is no person wants to live alone in this world. And no parent wishes their children live alone in the future or feel any loneness.
For many young children, the first happiness thing for them is finish class in every day. Because after class, they can go home for fun and meet their mom right now. But for Davey, the after class is a terrible time for him. Because he has nowhere to go. He feels loneness before 8 o’clock. Fortunately, there are many different places for Davey to go like Zack’s market, the public library, the soup kitchen. Maybe some of us cannot feel Davey’s loneness because many of us are flowers in the greenhouse. Some of us might never get any huge difficulty in our daily life. I do not it is a happiness thing or not.
To Davey, mom’s embrace is the biggest warm place for him to go. Along with the time, more and more children want to get out from mom’s embrace, especially teenagers. I think after children read this book, they will love mom’s embrace. Because when you loss everything and all the world give up you, you will still have one person stand in your side. This person is your mom. And you will have no chance to lose her embrace.
This is a different kind of children books. Because the main theme is a boy named Davey how to spend the after-class time. In most books, there are many happy, funny, and fantastic plots. But this book is so different that it focus on loneness. I think there is no person wants to live alone in this world. And no parent wishes their children live alone in the future or feel any loneness.
For many young children, the first happiness thing for them is finish class in every day. Because after class, they can go home for fun and meet their mom right now. But for Davey, the after class is a terrible time for him. Because he has nowhere to go. He feels loneness before 8 o’clock. Fortunately, there are many different places for Davey to go like Zack’s market, the public library, the soup kitchen. Maybe some of us cannot feel Davey’s loneness because many of us are flowers in the greenhouse. Some of us might never get any huge difficulty in our daily life. I do not it is a happiness thing or not.
To Davey, mom’s embrace is the biggest warm place for him to go. Along with the time, more and more children want to get out from mom’s embrace, especially teenagers. I think after children read this book, they will love mom’s embrace. Because when you loss everything and all the world give up you, you will still have one person stand in your side. This person is your mom. And you will have no chance to lose her embrace.
April 9, 2012
"Someplace to Go" by Maria Testa is a heart-wrenching story about a young, homeless boy. The book itself is fairly plain in design. The end pages are white and the full-bleed images inside the book are watercolor with mostly dull and dreary colors. This definitely portrays the mood throughout the story, as it is anything but cheery and fun. The story follows a young boy after a day of school. Him and his family sleep at a homeless shelter due to the fact that his mother lost her job. Unfortunately, this is a story that many people can probably relate to and while it is a bit serious for a children's book, it is a big issue and an important thing to teach children about.
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April 10, 2012Someplace to Go is a hard story about a young boy whose family is homeless. The story addresses homelessness and how lonely and isolated these people can feel. It also briefly talks about all the horrible things that happen on the street. The illustrations do a great job showing the emotion of the young boy and capture the mood of the story. The full bleed illustration makes it feel like the reader is in the story giving it more of a real feeling.
January 26, 2012
Interesting children's story about a homeless family. What a little boy must do in order to stay warm and get food on his own before he can meet with his brother and mother at the shelter when it opens several hours after he is released from school. Would be eye opening for children or adults. Great for diversity/awareness.
January 26, 2012
This is a book about a boy and his family trying to find work and a place to live. He and his brother go to school and he has to separate from his family until the end of the day when they meet up at the homeless shelter.
November 18, 2007
Vivid portrayal of what it's like to go to school and go to the homeless shelter where you live at the end of each day.
June 14, 2012
Good story to teach empathy
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews