At Home in a Faraway Place

Written and Illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins

At Home in a Faraway Place by Lynne Rae Perkins is the story of a girl named Lissie who takes a two-week vacation with her father and grandmother to the country of Guatemala. They visit her father’s good friend living there and Lissie is introduced to a lot of Spanish words and phrases. She makes new friends and discovers what volcanos and pyramids are like. She develops a special friendship with a girl named Flory, and they have fun playing games and doing other activities together. Lissie is sad to leave her new friend and this new country she has begun to discover and appreciate at the end of the two-week trip.

I would recommend this book to student(s) who may be traveling outside our country for the first time or to students who have an interest in learning Spanish or those who are taking first year Spanish. I would add this book to a display on North America (specifically, Central America), a display about friendship, or a display about the Spanish language. This book shows that friendship, fun, and smiles and can be shared between people, even if they have different backgrounds and cultures and languages.

This book is unique and special in that it defines and illustrates many Spanish words and phrases throughout the book and it even gives the pronunciation for each one. Also, the cover design is very clever. Faded into the background is a word search where many Spanish words introduced in the story are circled, just like a in a real word search. The foreground features a huge carry-on suitcase that is opened up and becomes Lissie’s bed while on vacation.

Reviewed by Megan Pingree, Media Clerk, Olympus Junior High
Review shared in May 2025
Rating: ★★★★✩ (4 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 4-7

At Home in a Faraway Place
Written and Illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins
Greenwillow Books, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
121 pages
Release Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780063378421
A review copy was provided by the publisher.

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