One Came Home

A young woman goes missing in 1870s Wisconsin. She is presumed dead from scant physical evidence from a neighboring community which is retrieved by the town’s sheriff. The missing girl’s 13 year old sister refuses to believe that her sister is dead and goes on a horseback road trip that retraces the route that her sister must have taken (looking for any new clues).This is a good story about the 13 year old’s ‘coming of age’ during her road trip. It also gives a pretty good depiction of what Midwest life was like back then.Additionally, this story also introduces pigeoneers (a word that I never even heard of before this story). Evidentially, there were millions upon millions of wild pigeons (passenger pigeons) that came together every year to roost in the large tracts of native forests that were still standing in Ohio, Wisconsin and all across the Midwest during the latter half of the 1800s. Pigeoneers were the hunters that followed the birds to their roost and slaughtered them by the hundreds of thousands (every year) for sale as delicacies in restaurants along the East Coast. Anyway, the missing girl had run off with a crew of pigeoneers (two men and a woman).If you read this book, I’d recommend researching Wisconsin wild pigeons on-line when you’re done with the book. It’s a tragic extinction event that American history kinda forgets about.

I'd say this book was interesting for adults, yet appropriate for kids. However, it has passages with very difficult words. Other time, it's normal reading. Even as an adult I can be challenged sometimes ...

It's 1871 and the passenger pigeons have drawn a huge crowd to Placid, Wisconsin. But when the pigeoners leave, Georgie Burkhardt's older sister Agatha leaves with them. When Agatha's family realizes she's missing, Sheriff McCabe goes looking for her. He returns a week later with a badly decomposed body with auburn hair the color of Agatha's wearing her beautiful blue-green dress. Although the body can't be identified, everyone who knows Agatha is certain the remains are hers. Except Georgie.Before Georgie sets off to find out what really happened to Agatha she needs transportation. As it turns out, she ends up "renting" a mule from Billy McCabe, the sheriff's son and Agatha's former suitor. If riding a mule weren't humiliating enough, Georgie discovers Billy is going to be her partner on this journey. The pair have several adventures, some life-threatening, as they search for clues to Agatha's death.Thirteen-year-old Georgie is feisty and stubborn, a crack shot, and something of a loudmouth. Cocky, handsome Billy is surprisingly compassionate and thoughtful. The two make an interesting pair in this action-filled story. An added bonus is the well-researched information about passenger pigeons and the people who hunted them to extinction.

Wow. This book blew me away. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to read it, maybe around twelve or so (decomposing corpse described in detail, vague references to sexual attraction, and overall themes that are best understood by older kids).This is essentially a coming of age tale set in the Old West and told in first person. The protagonist is a supremely likeable thirteen year old girl whose spunky-but-understated narration keeps the rather dark story from becoming weighed down. There's plenty here to "unpack" in terms of symbolism, literary themes, and moral lessons, but more importantly, it's a fantastically fun adventure story. Girls and boys will enjoy it equally. In fact, I'd strongly suggest this book to parents teaching their sons to view girls/women as fully fledged people. It's rare to come across a kids' book this compelling and well written from a believable female point of view.

my son was assigned this book to read in fifth grade. I read it just to get a sense of what they were reading. It is supposed to be a piece of historical fiction. I think the most interesting aspects were discussed in the authors notes at the end of the book. The story itself was okay. The author spends a lot of time describing pigeon migration and carrier pigeons in the midwest during the 19th century. Not what I would call an electrifying topic. The book was slow at timed and tended to drag. Overall it is a book that is worth reading in is definitely appropriate for the fifth grade. Given the overabundance of dystopian trilogies and fantasy epics avaliable to our children, it is nice to give them a piece of historical fiction to capture their interest. I think this will do the trick.

From the very first paragraph, a mystery drives the plot of One Came Home: is Agatha Burkhardt still alive? Embarking on an adventure to prove that she is, her 13-year-old sister, Georgie, ends up facing not only a host of challenges, but also herself. More Caddie Woodlawn than Jason Bourne, Georgie is a heroine we can relate to, both strong and vulnerable, smart and questioning. In her quest for the truth about her sister, Georgie learns a lot about herself and what she believes.Set in Wisconsin in 1871, just a few years after the end of the Civil War and during the great passenger pigeon migration, One Came Home is a beautifully written novel that draws one in with interesting historic detail, poetic images, suspense, deep feeling and a good dose of humor. Despite the dead body at the beginning, the story never becomes too heavy as Georgie faces the world with wit and grit and sheds her fears and burdens along the way. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes good story.

As an adult, I enjoyed this book. I feel as though some parts of this book are a bit mature for the target audience. There are a couple references to a male character being a nice male specimen. The book took a bit for me to get into, but it really picked up about midway through and at that point I couldn't put it down. I loved that it had a strong female character and that the premise of the book was an uncommon one. I can see why it received a Newbery Honor, and found it to be much better than the actual Newbery Winner.

Great book - Read aloud with my 10 and 8 year old. They loved it - (one boy , one girl)