Coming Home: A found family YA novel

by Darla Layne

Thirteen-year-old Sarah knows what it feels like to be unwanted.

When her mother is sent to prison, she’s shipped off to live with her older brother on the farm she barely remembers. Sam is only twenty, doing his best to be both guardian and brother. Hayden, his best friend and farm manager, keeps his distance — at least at first.

Sarah doesn’t expect warmth. She doesn’t expect patience. And she certainly doesn’t expect to feel safe.
But between muddy boots, stubborn cows, and two young men who refuse to give up on her, Sarah begins to learn something family isn’t always the one you’re born into. Sometimes it’s the one you choose.

Then a sudden accident shakes the farm — and the fragile bond between them — to its core.

Now Sarah must decide whether she’s brave enough to trust the place — and the people — who are slowly teaching her what home, and family, really means.

Coming Home is a heartfelt YA novel about second chances, found family, and discovering that sometimes the place you land is exactly where you’re meant to be.

295 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 8, 2026