As her father prepares for a trip back to his childhood home in Ethiopia, Desta begins to worry. Where does her father truly belong--in the village of his youth or here in America with her?

A girl as a African American she start worried about where is her real home, the US or African, it is really common on the immigrants.

This is a realistic fiction picture book for children from the first to third grade. I liked this book because it was a great story plot that exemplified a completely different lifestyle along with beautiful illustrations. It reminded me of a previous book I read, “Masai and I” by Virginia Kroll, which has a very similar theme. Through the Desta’s father’s stories, the reader learns about how different life is in Ethiopia from America, like how most Ethiopian children sleep on the floor, don’t own shoes, and live with no electricity. This provides the reader with a whole new worldly perspective about the people and culture from a place far away from us. The central message of this story understanding the beautiful things of another’s culture. ( )

This story is about a daughter and her father. The father was raised in Ethopia and his mother lives there still. When she falls ill, he feels the need to return to his homeland to see and care for her. He tries to explain this to his daughter who doesn't want him to leave. He uses memories from his childhood to help her understand that his mother and his childhood hold a special place in his heart just as her life does for her. She has never been to his homeland so he tries to create mental images of his life growing up so she can relate them to her own life. The illustrations in this book look to be watercolors and are a beautiful accent to the story.

I really like Faraway Home by Jane Kurtz. This tells a story about a little girl named Desta and she has to deal with the fact that her father is returning back to the country he immigrated from. She is worried that her father may not come back once he returns home. I enjoyed this story because I understand that its tough to see people leave. Once again, I really enjoyed the pictures that were provided in this story. She does a great job illustrating what is happening in the story. ( )