Marys+IRP

**By Patricia Reilly Giff**

 * Visual:**



It is hard to decide on just one item for the cover of a book. That is why I did many. The main image is an apple, with a burnt apple orchard, a lone apple tree, a baseball, and in the bottom right-hand corner, an iron lung inside of it. Apples represent a lot in the book. It could be Mariel and her mother picking apples before Mariel got polio, Brick's hope being burned to the ground, or maybe it is just a good snack that shows up many times in the book. The burnt orchard is Brick's family's. It got burned in a wildfire, and forced Brick's family to move, again. So when Brick is forced to live with Mariel, one of the first things he sees is that single apple tree with not one apple on it. Baseball is a fun sport, but in this book, it is more than that, it created a friendship. And the iron lung, it's a lifesaver, literally. When Mariel was young, she had polio. She still does, but she isn't contagious. The only way you would be able to tell that she is sick is by looking at her legs. One is much longer than the other, but that doesn't stop her. Sometimes many symbals are better than one.


 * Summary:**

//All the Way Home// is about Billy Nightingale (Brick) and Mariel. Brick's family is forced to move after disaster strikes their farm. His mother decides that it would be best for Brick to live with her friend and her friend's adoptive daughter. At first Mariel and Brick don't really get along, but eventually they become best friends. When Brick tells Mariel that he has to go back to his farm, she decides to help him. Come along with Mariel and Brick as they go through one of the most trying adventures of their lives.


 * Rating:**

I rate //All the Way Home// a 9, because it was an interesting book. It was sad in some parts, slow in others, but overall, I really enjoyed it. Mariel was really inspiring, because even though the kids around her teased her, she didn't let them get to her. I think that Brick was very brave. He tried to run away so that he could help his neighbors in their time of need. He got caught, but tried again. If he had been caught another time I think he would have run away until he succeeded. That is very brave. //All the Way Home// is by one of my favorite authors, Patricia Reily Giff. She wrote //Lily's Crossing// and //Williow Run.// Her books are mainly historical fiction, and are normally aren't based in present times. She is a really good author. The way she writes makes you want to keep reading. I appreciate that she tries to make history enjoyable. Everyone in our class would get something out of //All the Way Home,// so I think we should all read it.

Links:

If you want to learn more about the polio disease, [|click here.] To read more about Patricia Reilly Giff, [|click here.] Do you want to grow your own apple orchard? If so, [|click here.]