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Children's Fiction Homelessness & Poverty

I'll Be Home Soon

by (author) Luanne Armstrong

Publisher
Ronsdale Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2012
Category
Homelessness & Poverty, Adolescence, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781553801801
    Publish Date
    Jun 2012
    List Price
    $11.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781553801818
    Publish Date
    Sep 2012
    List Price
    $9.99

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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 10 to 15
  • Grade: 7

Description

In I'll Be Home Soon, Luanne Armstrong takes the reader on a tension-filled ride as Regan, a young girl living in the inner city, searches for her mother who has mysteriously disappeared. Homeless but by no means hapless, Regan is on her own much of the time but also receives help from a wide diversity of people: a young homeless boy like herself, her kung fu teacher, a university researcher, her grandmother, and a group of people who survive as bottle pickers. On the street, she must learn who it is she can truly trust, and it is not always those whom she (and the reader) might expect. Through her search for her mother, and in her connections with the people who truly help and care for her, Regan discovers her own inner strength and independence. In this fast-paced and sensitive story, Armstrong draws us into the shadowy and difficult side of inner-city life to show us both the dark and the compassionate sides of the people who survive in its midst.

Lexile Measure: 640L

About the author

Luanne Armstrong, MFA, Ph.D, is a novelist, freelance writer, editor, and publisher. She is deeply interested in writing about place and nature. Her research interests also include the ethics of autobiographical writing, ecological identity, and writing as inquiry. She has published over fifty stories and essays in magazines and journals, and is the author of fourteen books, including poetry, novels, and children’s books. She has been nominated for numerous prizes and awards. Her first novel, Annie, was a best-seller in Germany. Her YA novel, Jeannie and the Gentle Giants, was nominated for Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year, the Sheila Egoff BC Book Prize Award and the Red Cedar Award. It placed second in the Silver Birch Award. It was also named by McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg as one of their top ten all time best children’s books. Luanne has taught Creative Writing for many years at the college level including at Langara College, and at summer schools in BC and Alberta. She is a popular speaker and workshop leader at writing conferences. She is presently working on a book about the ethics of autobiographical writing for Pacific Educational Press as well as a book of essays about environmental ethics. She is an adjunct professor of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Luanne currently lives on her organic heritage farm in the Kootenay region of BC.

Luanne Armstrong's profile page

Librarian Reviews

I'll Be Home Soon

Regan is only 13 when her mother disappears and leaves her without any food or money. Eventually, Regan becomes homeless and is forced to live in a squat. While the street people look out for her, Regan is fearful that no one is looking for her mother. Old and new friends help Regan to draw on her inner strength and lead the search for her mother.

Armstrong is a professor of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Her first young adult novel, Jeannie and the Gentle Giants, won the Sheila A. Egoff BC Book Prize and the Red Cedar Award. It also placed second for the Silver Birch Award.

Caution: Includes use of drugs by secondary characters and suggestions that the mother is a prostitute.

Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2013-2014.

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