5 books that consider what 'home' means
Author A M Dassu recommends five favourite books that explore the concept of ‘home’.
A. M. Dassu is an internationally acclaimed author
In all of my books I explore the concept of home in some way.
In my book Wild Journey, which is a story collection, I have plotted five stories set across the world, in five different settings, with five wildly different characters, to explore how we sometimes take outer journeys that unexpectedly lead to an inner journey. In them, I wanted to explore what ‘home’ means to different beings, and how brave and resilient we are as humans.
Home for me is all about connection, and I try to show that in my stories in various ways. I love how different authors explore what home means.
Here are five middle-grade books that reflect on home or what ‘home’ means. It’s a wonderfully diverse list!
1. Wildlands by Brogen Murphy
This is a vivid and unique story, set in the year 2050, in which humans are banned from the Wildlands – a sanctuary that’s home to diverse species, some revived from extinction, created to restore the damage caused by humans.
When sisters Astrid and Indie get accidentally stranded after their train stops there, they struggle to find shelter, food or water, and have to find courage, rely on each other, and work together to navigate and survive the dangerous landscape.
A tense, thrilling adventure story which will leave you thinking about our own part in allowing nature to repair and rehome without our presence.
2. The Wood Where Magic Grows by Andy Shepherd, illustrated by Ellie Snowdon
Iggy has to adjust to moving to a new cottage in a village in the countryside with his new step-family, and he now has to share a bedroom with his new little brother, Cal. When he and his step-brother explore their new garden, they discover magic in the woods and a secret the trees have to share.
This endearing, magical fantasy adventure is about two children in a blended family saving an endangered forest in their newly founded family and home.
3. Up Above the City by Clare Weze
A moving, beautifully told story about displacement, family separation and often-hidden communities of refugees told through a gently fantastical lens. It explores how people wrenched from their homes look for shelter until things improve.
In the story, Laine loses her home when her father has to go on the run, and Jake’s lovely home is about to be sold. Perching in the Up Above – a temporary, secret place of safety that relies on the goodwill of strangers – Jake realises everyone just wants safety, warmth, and to feel that they belong. To them, home is absolutely everything.
4. Loki: A Bad God’s Guide series by Louie Stowell
Loki has been expelled from his home in Asgard. Asgard is the home of the gods in Norse mythology and everything there is luxurious and easy.
When Loki comes to Earth, it’s a brutal shift. He now has to do chores, go to school, suffer school dinners and live in a normal mortal house. This series explores our familiar homes and way of life, from a witty and hilarious point of view, in a page-turning, illustrated diary format.
5. Elemental Detectives series by Patrice Lawrence
Inspired by a real-life person, Jonathan Strong, this imaginative fantasy explores home in the most thrilling, adventurous way. It looks at slavery, belonging and poverty in 18th century Georgian London, uniquely through the perspective of two Black characters.
Robert has no home. He was enslaved in Barbados, then brought to England and enslaved by rich London plantation owners. He finds friendship with a group of street children, but as a so-called runaway slave, London can’t be a safe home. Plus, elemental spirits and an evil villain linger…
An absorbing series layered with magic, history, and adventure.
Wild Journey by A. M. Dassu, illustrated by Joe Lillington, is out now.
A. M. Dassu is a former World Book Day author and internationally acclaimed author of 14 children’s books, including Boy, Everywhere, Fight Back and Kicked Out, which have collectively been listed for over 55 awards, including the Carnegie Medal, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and Week Junior Book Award.
She is a director at Inclusive Minds, a patron of The Other Side of Hope, an international literary magazine edited by immigrants and refugees, and one of The National Literacy Trust’s Connecting Stories campaign authors, aiming to help inspire a love of reading and writing in children and young people.
You can find her on Instagram: @a.m.dassu