A Million Ways Home

This book is pretty high up on my favorite book list. I love it! 

A MILLION WAYS HOME

By Dianna Dorisi Winget

The book starts out as Priscilla "Poppy" Parker meets Erin, a young girl who cries all the time at a childrens' care center. While trying to comfort Erin, Poppy realises that her roomate, Sidney, has stolen her phone. Then, Miss Austin, the caretaker, tells Poppy her grandmother, Beth, has been released from the hospital and was transferred to the Huckleberry home. Miss Austin promises to take Poppy the next afternoon, but Poppy can't wait that long and leaves on her own. 

Poppy stops at a gas station, and talks to the cashier, who pays for her candy bar. When Poppy leaves, though, she hears... A gunshot. She runs and hides, but instead is stopped by the crimanal, who had shot and killed the cashier. He asks her name, and when she tells him, police cars approach and he runs off.

Poppy is stopped yet again by the police, and she tells them that the criminal left. While a policeman and his dog, Dozer leave to track him down, Trey Brannigan, a detective, stays with Poppy and asks her questions. She talks to him about the criminal, her grandmother, art, and what exactly the criminal did. 

Miss Austin arrives and scolds Poppy for leaving. She and Trey talk, and Trey tells Poppy that she needs to go to a questioning at the station.

On the way to the station, Trey, Poppy, Maria, a young woman, and Ray, an aging man, stop at McDonalds and order Poppy a cheeseburger Happy Meal. She eats it quickly, then realizing how hungry she was.

At the station, the captian, Pete Ross, listens to Poppy's story and records everything. When he and Trey leave, Maria and Poppy talk and drink hot chocolate, and Poppy overhears Trey and Pete fighting about her. Maria assures her that she hasn't done anything wrong, they are deciding where she will stay, since she told the suspect her name.

Trey tells her that she will spend the night at the station, then go to his mother, Marti's, house until the criminal is caught.

The next day, Poppy is forced to tell her grandmother about the crime. Beth is mad that Poppy snuck off without Miss Austin and almost got herself killed. Trey asks Beth if it's okay if Poppy stays with Marti and Beth agrees.

At Marti's house, Poppy meets a plethora of animals, including Pringles, a moody African Gray parrot that will bite off fingers.

She also meets Lizzie, a young girl who has been in trouble. Lizzie explains why she's there, she spray painted "Pete for President" on the federal building. She and her friends are punished with 300 hours of community service.

Marti and Poppy talk about her parents, and Poppy tells her that her parents were killed in an anti-government bomb. They, and ten other people, were killed when Poppy was one.

That night, Trey returns Poppy's "lost" cell phone. While Poppy wants to know the details, Trey only tells her that he and Sidney had a "friendly chat".

Trey and Poppy play checkers and eat Twinkies at hia house, a duplex that connects to Marti's. They talk about Trey's father, and how he never let Trey win checkers. His proudest moment was when Trey beat his father on his thirteenth birthday.

While Poppy is leaving, she tells Trey that she is going to bike over to the Huckleberry Home to see Beth's physical therapy. Trey refuses to let her go.

The next day, Poppy wakes up early and leaves to her house to get her bike. She goes to the physical therapy, but is dissapointed to see that Beth is asleep, not at her therapy. Marti calls, and Trey picks Poppy up. Dissapointed at her stupidness, Trey takes her bike away.

Poppy meets the police artist, and they talk as she draws the suspect Poppy describes. The drawing is very realistic, and Poppy is scared of it.

Marti takes Poppy to the animal shelter where Lizzie does her community service. She and Lizzie walk the dogs, Lizzie lazily puts them in the yard. Poppy plays with the dogs while Lizzie texts.

Poppy then meets Gunner, a young German Shephard with an "uncertain future". Carol, Lizzie's mother and the director, stops her, saying Gunner has biten people and is not trustworthy.

Later, Lizzie and Poppy talk about what Poppy saw at the gas station, until Marti makes her do homework. Poppy and Lizzie continue to text.

Trey arrives and tells Poppy that the poster of the suspect has alerted a shop owner, and the man's name is William Eugene Frank.

Poppy is sent to look over the stores cameras. She sees William but knows that if she tells the police what she saw, it will be easier for them to catch him and she will be sent back to the center.

Beth has a stroke and is sent back to the hospital. Upset, Poppy tries to see her, but she is sleeping. She goes to the shelter and talks to Lizzie about Lizzie's step-family.

When she returns to Beth, she is awake and wants coffee. After Poppy gets her some, Beth tells Poppy that they have to give up their home.

Lizzie urgently texts Poppy, saying that Gunner needs her. Poppy gets Trey to rush her to the shelter, and sees a vet van in the parking lot.

Poppy climbs inside Gunners' kennel, and soon realises that Gunner is about to be put down. Upset, she refuses to get out of the kennel until Carol agrees not to put him to sleep.

The next day, as Lizzie and Poppy are with the dogs, Greg Kinsley, a K9 officer and Dozers' handler, arrives, looking for dogs for the program. Poppy suggestes Gunner and offers to train him for a test.

As Poppy trains Gunner, Carol makes Lizzie keep an eye on her so Gunner doesn't attack anyone. Lizzie uses Poppy's phone and talks about how her father used to take her for walks in Manito Park. Poppy tells Lizzie about how her parents were killed and Lizzie is shocked.

Unable to get Gunner to listen to her, Lizzie suggests treats, which makes Gunner obey.

Later that night, Poppy admits that she saw William on the cameras. Trey is angry,  but he forgives her.

The next morning, as Poppy and Lizzie are training Gunner, Marti arrives with sad news, Beth has died. Poppy refuses to see Beth, and doesn't leave her room at Marti's. Trey finally gets her up and tells her about the funeral, which Poppy doesn't want to go to.

At the service, Poppy runs off to Manito Park, where she falls asleep for hours. Lizzie finds her and they talk about what they did at Manito Park in between bites of popcorn.

Lizzie calls her mom, and Poppy sees no other than William Eugene Frank. She and Lizzie hide in a culvert and call 911. The operator gets Trey, who comes to the park.

When William hears sirens, he forces a woman out of her car and tries to escape when the police show up. William is arrested.

Poppy is sent back to the center, where she sees Erin and her mother leave.

Poppy returns to her room and takes a pillow from Sidney's bed. Sidney grabs it back, threatening to break Poppy's face.

Poppy skips school and goes into a small, concrete hideaway and texts Lizzie and draws Gunner. Trey catches her and tells her that if she doesn't go to school, he won't allow her to go to the animal shelter.

Officer Kinsley arrives at the shelter and passes Gunner. Poppy is happy until she realises that since Gunner was accepted, he won't be at the shelter anymore.

The next day, Miss Austin takes Poppy a meeting about Beth's will. Beth left all of her valuables to Poppy and 16 thousand dollars for Poppy's trust fund.

Beth left a note for Poppy, which says how proud she is of Poppy. It also says that Trey will be adopting her.

That night, Poppy asks Trey if they can sit out under the stars and he agrees. They sit and Trey tells Poppy about Virgina Sykes, a little girl who loved her hamster, Ralph. Her step-brother baby-sat her often, and one night, he sprained her wrist because she wouldn't listen to him. Trey wants to arrest him, but the mother begs him not to, and Trey gives him a chance. Then, one night, the brother had a party and Virgina was killed. The department thought that she threatend to tell, and someone killed her. No one was convicted since nothing could be figured out.

The next day, as Poppy and Lizzie pick up dog poop from the backyard, Lizzie tells Poppy that she wants to adopt Garfield, a young kitten.  She wants to take him when she visits her dad over the weekend.

Marti offers to take the girls out for ice cream, and on the way, Poppy wants to stop at the cemetary. Lizzie tells her to hurry, or she'll leave without her.

Poppy apologizes to Beth for not coming to her funeral. She thinks about all of the good times the two had together.

When she gets back to the car, Lizzie proclaims that vanilla is for losers, and chocolate is for smart and cool people. She belives Poppy will get vanilla, but Poppy decides on two flavors, butter pecan for Beth and Moose Tracks for her.

Because that was her favorite.

Queen's Qualities

• Are dogs really that quickly accepted into programs? I always thought a team would evaluate the dog.
• Butter peacan+Moose Tracks= Ew?
• I can't believe Miss Austin didn't do anything about Sidney bulling Poppy. That seems like a normal thing that happens in care centers and foster homes and she should be more aware.
• Miss Austin is pretty laxidazical about one of her kids going missing and almost getting killed. Is she even registered?
• If you're interested, there was exactly 16,342 dollars put in Poppy's trust fund.

I loved this book and I hope you will/did too! If you have any reccomendations, post them in the comments down below.