A Long Road Home

 

What are the things that make you feel safe? Home? Family? Friends? In Safekeeping, a powerful novel by Karen Hesse, seventeen year-old Radley's concept of safety is shattered when she returns to her hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont after a brief stint of volunteer work at an orphanage in Haiti. She finds that the United States is in chaos. The American People's Party, an extremist group, has taken over the country, the president has been assassinated, riots and looting are prevalent, and Radley's parents have disappeared. Unsure of what she should do, yet knowing she is unsafe, Radley embarks on a long and perilous journey on foot from Vermont to Canada, where she hopes she will find refuge until the situation in the United States is resolved. The narrative is complemented and enhanced by the author's superb black and white photos. This is a deeply moving and unforgettable work which all readers should experience.