Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies

by Jill Wolfson

Book Overview

The new novel from Jill Wolfson an exciting, fresh voice in middle-grade fictionWhitney has been in so many foster homes that she can give a complete rundown on the most common varieties of foster parents from the look-on-the-bright-side types to those unfortunate examples of pure evil. But one thing she doesn't know much about is trees. This means heading for Foster Home #12 (which is all the way at the top of the map of California, where there looks...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805076700
• ISBN13: 9780805076707
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

Going Home- for real this time

Whitney is a loud-mouthed,energetic, and small eleven year old girl. She has been bounced around from foster family to foster family throughout her life, and has lost all faith that such a concept of home exists. Her next foster family, #12 is located in the middle of no where. Population 1,639 and a few bazillion trees. This does not please Whityney at all. She plans on making her stay a short one. Little does she know, that maybe she can find home in the last place she'd think to look- in a broken family. Home and Other Big, Fat Lies is a funny and quircky novel that will have you cheering for the Mighty Termite the whole way through. Can an outsider become an insider? Well, you'll have to see.

A fine story of a spunky personality seeking a place to fit in.

Whitney has been in so many foster homes she considers herself an expert on their connected qualities, from happy ones to purely evil foster parents - but she doesn't know anything about trees, and her next foster home is located in them. She's convinced she won't be any more welcome in the middle of nowhere than anywhere urban - or is there a place in the country for a hyper, loudmouthed kid to fit in? A fine story of a spunky personality seeking a place to fit in.

Respect the Termite

One technique your average children's book reader can use when they want to fill space in a review is to compare the book at hand to already well-known titles. I do this all the time, partly because it's a space filler and partly because it gives you a feel for the book as a whole. Yet when it came to Jill Wolfson's newest title for the young `uns, "Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies", I found myself wanting to say something like this: The only way I can describe it is to say that it's basically "The Great Gilly Hopkins" meets "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" with an eco-message that "Hoot" fans will enjoy... and there's a dog that seems straight out of "Surviving the Applewhites". There. Have I cleared anything up for you? No? Well then buckle up and hold tight, kiddies. This book was one of the most enjoyable titles you'll find this year, and it's all about foster kids and unemployment. No lie! Call her Whitney. No, wait, call her Termite. You might as well. After all, she knows she's a bit on the shrimpy side, and she likes to embrace her nicknames right off the top. As of this moment in time Termite has lived in twelve foster homes and she knows the lay of the land. Now her social worker has taken Termite and her pet (a pillbug by the name of Ike Eisenhower the Sixth... no relation to the president) to Forest Glen, California. Emphasis on the forest. Once there she finds a town in trouble. Due to the discovery of a rare owl, the logging industry in Forest Glen has shut down, leaving the residents destitute and in need of cash by any means. So the town came up with an idea. Why not adopt a whole mess of foster kids and make money that way until something better comes along? Now Termite's going to school with a bunch of kids who've been through what she's been through and out of the blue she's joined the school's ecology club. But when the logging industry starts to come to life again, Termite finds herself defending something she loves deep in the heart of the forest. And she'll risk everything to keep it safe. When an author creates a wholly new character, it's important that they flesh out that person to the extent that you truly believe in them. Termite is a spot-on example of how to do this. Every detail about her comes to vibrant manic life under Wolfson's pen. Her constant chewing and spitting of sunflower seeds. Her tiny stature, fear of all dogs, and upfront supposedly fearless nature. I kept picturing her as a tiny version of "House", from the television show of the same name. I couldn't help it! She says what she thinks, is incredibly observant, and definitely ADD. Part of her charm is that you never really feel sorry for her. It's such a relief to believe in a character that can take care of herself. Termite doesn't care what she wears or what she looks like. When she sees the popular girls in school she notes that, "It would take me about six more lifetimes to be that glossy". And from the moment you hear that she can climb and then fin