Long Way Home by Michael Morpurgo

by Michael Morpurgo

George has been in six foster homes, but none of them have worked out. This holiday he is going to stay on the Dyer's farm.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Contemporary, Adventure, Coming Of Age

Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid and ultimately fulfilling tale for children. A young boy who has been passed from foster home to foster home for years, finds himself placed with a family on a farm. This is a placement that changes all of their lives forever. 7 out of 12 Three Stars.

2014 read

[Zahra Labbafan · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان یک پسربچه یتیم که بالاخره در یکی از خانه‌هایی که موقت پیششانی می‌رود احساس بودن یک خانواده واقعی را می‌کند
کتاب خوبی برای نوجوانان هست

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice little story

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Long Way Home" is a story based around a main character called George. George, who is in foster care, is often being sent to different families in the summer to live with them and do various tasks and activities. Every summer George would return home early from the house he was sent to, however this year appears to be different. George finds himself in the care of the Dyer's and its safe to say, he is loving his time there! Do good things last forever? Michael Morpurgo is able to engage the reader with "long way home." Will George ever find a place he wants to call home?

I would set the age range of this book between the ages of nine and twelve. I enjoyed reading this book as I feel that it is able to teach children that you can care for others in the same way as you would care for your own family members, even if they are not blood related. "long way home" is able to show children just how important it is to have close family and friends around them! It also gives children an insight into what life is like as a foster child but as well as life on a farm, like the Dyer's. "Long way home" would be best read as independent reading, I feel that Michael Morpurgo goes into just enough detail of the settings in the book, by doing this he is able to help those reading the book to be able to use their own imagination. I feel that this helps children with their attention span!

As an adult reading this book I found the ending a little predictable, however I don't think this would be the case for an age group of nine to twelve.

Another great Michael Morpurgo book!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author of Kensuke's Kingdom and Butterfly Lion, Michael Morpurgo is a black-belt in delivering poignant stories rich in emotion and character. Long Way Home is no different. I have never cried at a book before. Films - yes, I am a sucker. TV shows - you bet. Books? Not once. That was, until I read Long Way Home by Michael Morpurgo. It's a basic story that doesn't offer a huge amount in content, but what it does offer is an ensemble of characters so incredibly compelling and well-nourished, that it does make this book a stellar read.


Without revealing too much, this book focusses on a family welcoming an "outsider" to their home, not knowing the impact the boy would make on their lives.

Grab your tissues. You're going to need them.

[Kimmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've not given this 3 stars because it's a bad book, it's really good, I just feel like it needs to be a bit longer. It was a very sweet quick read though, and I've got a stack of short Michael Morpurgos I'm starting to read through!😂😂

[Lyra23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely.

[Rutendo · Rating 4 out of 5]

TITLE: Long Way Home
GENRE: Fiction
AUTHOR: Michael Morpurgo
NUMBER OF PAGES: 149
PUBLISHER: 2006 by Egmont ( First published in 1975)
PLOT: Twelve year old George is moved to a new foster house for the summer. Since he has moved to so many places he assume's he will dislike it at the Dyers's farm. At first Tom is not pleased that George is staying with them but soon realises that he is actually an important member to the family. Storme ( Toms sister) tries to make George fit in the mad household. Will George finally find a place he enjoys or will he try runaway as he always does?
EVALUATION: Long Way Home is a very exciting , adventurous book. In side the book I found out that there was a meaning , You wont fit into places immediately but slowly things will become better. If you like an adventurous book to follow along, Long Way Home is a great book to read.
RECOMMENDATION: I recommend this book to children who are 1o to 15 years old. I would rate this book 4/5 , I took away one rate because now at my age I would read something with more pages and realistic.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of George, a foster child going to a new home for the summer. Tom and Storme live on a farm with their parents and have foster children come every year for the summer holidays. George doesn't want to go there and Tom doesn't want him there. Through several crisis situations the boy's bond and George begins to feel he may have found a home. But things don't always go as planned.
This is an early Michael Morpurgo book and I found it very engaging.

[aarja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another heartwarming book by the great author Micheal Morpurgo. I love it!

[Koduvayur Harikrishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter wanted to do something good - she decided to forster a child. Our initial thrill was somewhat watered down by the endless paperwork, home modifications, preparatory courses, and so on. When I saw the back sleeve of this book by Morourgo, I was piqued. I wanted to know about the issues with fostering faced by others. So I picked up this book.

Morpurgo weaves a tender tale of insecurities faced by a child tossed about among various foster familes, and the issues faced by the fostering families themselves, especially the children of one such family. All ends well in this idyllic world created by the author. The descriptions of the landscape, the dialogues and the heartaches faced by various characters are so real, this could well be a biography or a case study. Sadly, in my own daughter's case, things were hardly as easy. Which kind of balances out the issue of fostering in general. I think this book should be read by all students of Psychology, Child Development, and related academic courses. It should also be read by anyone who is considering fostering. There are many lessons to be learnt from this short, simple book. Yet, a word of warning is in order. This book ends on the "happily ever after" note, which may not always be the case, given the complexity of the topic of fostering: the attitudes of children needing fostering, people interested in fostering- for whatever reasons or compulsions of their own, overzealous social workers and society in general. We need books on how to avoid children ending up needing fostering, as much as we need equitable fostering facilities.

[Cara Steel · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 out of 5 stars. 5 out of 5 stars. Every thing I come back to read this book, and OMG the way Micheal Morpurgo writes is so good and authentic to an extent where you know and get to grips with the characters. There is something so authentic about reading this book and when you pick up a book from the series even if it’s not in order you instantly fall in love with the way he writes and the characters he describes. I cannot wait to get the other books from this author and read the in this series. In the future I will definitely be coming back to re read this book because the way that writes is so good and authentic and even in dark times there is something about Long way home gives a light through the dark tunnel.

Also, I now understand why his series is number one in the US and UK!! I’m super excited to read the following books in the series and then read her other works to see what they are like. I also hear that it is now a major motion picture and has a lot of films to go with the books that he has written. So yes it not only a very good, adult fiction book, but his other work will be probably the best mystery books and series but also the best author I’m going to read!! So yes go and read them. It’s a 5 out of 5 star book for me !! Definitely recommend!!!
I think it might be the best book I have read so far this year!! 🌟🌟✨✨🤩

[Leah Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant read that would be suitable for lower KS2. A nice, but rather predictable, story about family, friendship and determination. I thought the narrative was slightly rushed and the characters were a little one dimensional.
In terms of teaching, the story does offer opportunities to look at rural vs urban life and different types of weather. Also some creative writing opportunities through the description of George’s night on the moors, as well as looking into how other characters besides George may be feeling at different points in the story (e.g Mrs Thomas, what is she thinking? What is she saying? What is she feeling?)

[Muhammad Ishaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasant reading that would be acceptable for a lower KS2. A nice story about family, friendship and determination, but very predictable. I felt there was a little hurry in the plot and the characters were a little one-dimensional.

The story provides opportunities to look at rural and urban life and various forms of weather in terms of teaching. Via the definition of George's night on the moors, as well as looking at how other characters besides other characters are also creative writing opportunities.

[Lucifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole time, the closer I got to the end, I couldn’t put the book down and felt this dread that something awful would happen, that he’d never see them again. When I got to the second to last page I started to cry with happiness and once I’d finished I just hugged the book silently to my chest and let the sobs come. As someone who grew up very much like George, I needed to read this book, to see him get the happy ending and family that I never did. Brilliant book, very much the same energy as Wreck Of The Zanzibar

[Mike Booth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine. I picked it up from my mum's bag (she's a big fan) as we were heading out the door, so I had something to read on the journey, and it didn't take me much more than a couple hours to finish it. It's not badly written per se, it's just not as good as his usual efforts - this might be as this was written in 1975, whereas his better ones are (I think) much more recent. It's a fine book, reasonably enjoyable to read, but nothing special.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really sweet story about a young boy who is in the system, honestly cried a few times but not of sadness. Very climatic ending.

A young boy named George is taken to the dyers farm for summer, he helps out on the farm with the dyers children, Tom and storme, but mrs dyers has a back issue and is sent to hospital and George is sent back to the home, then he takes a journey back to the dyers and he is basically adopted by them.

I love this book and will happily read again

[Green Jazz Blues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Morpurgo is certainly a "master storyteller." This story was very enjoyable but in my opinion, the change between George and the Dyers from animosity to becoming friends seemed way too sudden for me - likewise the action seemed to come too soon. Apart from that, it's a good read for young children.

[Lea Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for the younger reader. I wanted to experience reading a variety of authors and this book was fantastic. I loved it. Ive now collected for my book collection - lots of this authors titles and I am looking forward to reading them - all. This was a touching story with a happy ending - a feel good book.

[Jay Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

MM has done it again. Another short story book that as an adult reading it for the first time I absolutely love. He found a forever home after years of abandonment and fitted in perfectly without needing to change. Absolutely loved it. I want another little chapter about life after that day for the 5 of them

[Vanessa Mozayani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful story by Michael Morpurgo about a foster boy called George who begrudgingly spends his Summer vacation with the Dyer family. Disaster strikes twice for this family and its only then George realises how much he likes being with the Dyers.

[funny woo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book as it is very emotional and sometimes makes you believe one thing but then surprise you with what actually happens. I love reading Michael Morpurgo books, they are very fascinating.

Thank you.

[Aisha Hasnat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long Way Home is a lovely book written by Michael Morpurgo in which he describes a beautiful story about life and its challenges. The book has a deep meaning as it shows a spiritual connection between an orphan boy and two other kids. I would prefer this book for all of you as it is easy to read and can have a good impact on our vocabulary. In my opinion, it is a Heartfelt tale and I think it teaches all of us to never give up on something we truly love.

[Areeba Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt like a light read. Not too detailed or heavy, but just detailed enough for you to continue reading. I like that it was based around the topic of foster homes and how one can feel overwhelmed, etc, because I don't come across books with such a topic often. It's a good book, worth a read.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Michael Morpurgo book that I've read for the first time as an adult. I guess I must have thrifted it a few years ago and forgotten to read it. Heartwarming tale of an orphan staying with a foster family on a farm in England. I enjoyed it :)

[Grace Sargeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that makes one think of children and their world view. Wonderful story revolves around children.

[15newlandsykesl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Mopurgo books are always very good and very interesting.

[Maimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didnt really read if but I think it will be AMAZING

[Seb Yawlo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant read. Not my favourite Morpurgo story but a nice story about friendship, family and determination. No real surprises through the story but a feel good story with a nice ending.