The Wrong Way Home, Kate OShaughnessy
The Wrong Way Home, Kate OShaughnessy
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

The Wrong Way Home

Author: Kate O'Shaughnessy

Narrator: Caitlin Kinnunen

Unabridged: 8 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/02/2024


Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Fern believes she's living a noble life--but what if everything she's been told is a lie? This is a huge-hearted story about a girl learning to question everything—and to trust in herself.

A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK • A CALIBA GOLDEN POPPY AWARD FINALIST • A KIRKUS REVIEWS AND BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Fern’s lived at the Ranch, an off-the-grid, sustainable community in upstate New York, since she was six. The work is hard, but Fern admires the Ranch's leader, Dr. Ben. So when Fern’s mother sneaks them away in the middle of the night and says Dr. Ben is dangerous, Fern doesn't believe it. She wants desperately to go back, but her mom just keeps driving.

Suddenly thrust into the treacherous, toxic, outside world, Fern thinks only about how to get home again. She has a plan, but it will take time. As that time goes by, though, Fern realizes there are things she will miss from this place—the library, a friend from school, the ocean—and there are things she learned at the Ranch that are just...not true.

Now Fern will have to decide. How much is she willing to give up to return to the Ranch? Should she trust Dr. Ben’s vision for her life? Or listen to the growing feeling that she can live by her own rules?

About The Author

KATE O’SHAUGHNESSY is a Newbery Honor winner for The Wrong Way Home and author of The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane, and Lasagna Means I Love You.     She is a book nerd, animal lover, former chef, and an outdoor enthusiast. When she’s not writing, you can find Kate in her garden, eating good food, hiking with her dog, and chronically mispronouncing words she’s read but never heard said aloud. She lives in California with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Betsy on August 07, 2024

Nuance and complexity in books for kids can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, our children deserve only the best possible literature. We must fill them with stories full of three-dimensional characters. We should give them difficult and complicated situations, sometimes without easy answers.......more

Goodreads review by Bookishrealm on May 09, 2025

4.5 The Wrong Way Home was completely and totally unexpected. This is one of those books where revealing too much about the plot can spoil moments of surprise and connection. Though it's my first time encountering Kate O'Shaughnessy, I instantly understood/realized why people enjoy her other novels.......more

Goodreads review by Emily on February 01, 2025

A book about a 12 year old unwillingly being rescued from a cult—this was not a gap I realized existed in middle grade novels. The revelations occur slowly to our unreliable narrator. This part was believable to me. I’m definitely in favor of exposing kids to difficult topics through books, but I do......more

Goodreads review by DaNae on April 27, 2024

Twelve is a hard time in life to question everything you know about what is morally right and wrong. For Fern the two dominate adults in her life, her mother and the Dr. Ben, the leader of her community, are suddenly at odds. Her mother breaks away from The Ranch, the only place Fern has ever called......more

Goodreads review by Gabrielle on February 18, 2025

LOVE books that center around leaving a cult. There are no two ways around it. I'm obsessed by it. Cults and how people could even be a part of one--for whatever length of time--fascinates me. I just don't understand the reasoning. But that is what adds to the adventure. So here we meet Fern who is......more


Quotes

* "Gripping. A strong, emotionally intelligent story." —Kirkus Reviews, starred


Awards

  • CALIBA Golden Poppy Award - Octavia E. Butler Award