A Long Way to Go

By Borden Deal

A family is on vacation at the Florida shore. One day the parents put their three kids in the motel's daycare and go off for a day on their own. That evening, they fail to return. The motel manager is unable to find out what has happened to them. The three kids, who range in age from 11 to 6, are acutely aware of what an inconvenience they have become to the motel. Fearing they will be taken away by the authorities, they sneak away from the motel. Their plan is to walk home to Georgia, some 600 miles away. This is the story of their adventure. With $25 and a heap of common sense the three kids manage to get back home, meeting some kind, helpful folks along the way and in the process acquiring a dog, a mule and a goose.

It's an unlikely story but the author manages to make it all seem very believable. I just had one quibble with the story: that the kids had no relative or friend of the family they could contact to come and take care of them until the mystery of their parents' disappearance could be solved. But other than that, their adventures were engrossing and authentic and I really enjoyed the story even though the book is intended for older kids or young teens. It's quite a story.