One Came Home

One Came Home
by Amy Timberlake
Reviewed by Leila

Georgina Burkhart lives in Placid Wisconsin in the year of 1871, the time of pigeoners. Her sister Agatha has run off with the pigeoners, ones who hunt the passenger pigeons. After a some time, Sheriff McCabe returns to Placid, with a body that is wearing Agatha’s dress. Her mother identifies the body saying that it was her daughter. Everyone else agrees that Agatha Burkhart is dead, except Georgie. Refusing to accept what is laid before her Georgie sets out to find the truth about her sister, facing unimaginable adversities on her journey.

The author has written a historical fiction about the time of the pigeoners on the western frontier. Her narrative is rich in details and all loose ends are tied in her writing. Her story keeps your wanting to read more. Many middle school novels are not on the subject of the time of the passenger pigeons nesting in 1871, but Timberlake uses her words to make the uncommon subject a source of interest.

Using many sources, her book alone is a good source of information about the passenger pigeon nesting, and she has a note about her sources in the back of the book. However, the author was not able to get information about what the reactions of the people were in specification to the nesting in 1871. This book also shows the main character having a flashback of events leading up to the present, and the author could have made these flashbacks shorter, but Timberlake is quite descriptive in her writing, which doesn't take too much away from the book itself.

Overall, One Came Home is a strong piece of writing: it has a unique motif, uses strong descriptive writing, and makes sure the reader does not want to put it down. An excellent read for anyone looking for something a bit different.