Bound for Home - by Meika Hashimoto (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Max the puppy has fallen in love. From the moment Emi walks into the shelter with her long black hair and bright smile, he knows she's meant to be his forever person. Emi's family has just moved to Maine from Japan, and he can tell that she is in desperate need of a friend like Max. After Emi adopts him, Max goes to live with her high up on a mountain homestead where he explores his new world and spends his days annoying the other family pet, a Maine coon cat named Red. So when Emi goes missing, Max knows that it's up to him to find her, no matter where in the Maine woods she may be. Accompanied by Red, Max takes off on a journey that will challenge him with wild animals, hunger, and an impossible trail to track -- but he'll never give up until his girl is safe."--Publisher's website.

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Trail, a heartwarming tale of survival and adventure, following three unlikely friends and their quest to make it home together.

Max: a shelter dog who just wants his freedom.

Emi: a lonely girl who secretly wants a place to call home.

And Red: a cat who's never needed anyone or anything beyond her own sharp wits.

Can the three survive a journey deep into the woods?

From the moment Emi walks into the animal shelter, she knows the dopey-looking dog with the sandy-colored hair is the dog for her. Despite Max's many escape attempts and inability to be trained, she chooses him.

When Emi's home life starts to crumble, she takes off into the Maine woods with Max at her side, determined to prove that she can make it on her own. But they immediately lose each other, and one catastrophe after another shows that they're totally unprepared to handle the wilderness. Wild animals, hunger, and an impossible trail to track mean that each must do whatever it takes to stay alive--but what happens when they have to choose between getting back to safety... and looking out for a friend? Can loyalty be as strong as the will to survive?

Review Quotes

Praise for The Trail:

"Readers will be drawn into Toby's exciting journey and empathize with him as he learns an important lesson about forgiving yourself and determining what's important in life and then fighting for it." -- Booklist

"Readers will relish experiencing the dangers of living on the wild side. Toby's trip of self-discovery and adventure matures him into a more confident, less negative person who is finally able to forgive himself and feel happiness. This action-packed tale of a boy fighting the elements and his own negative self-image never falters." -- School Library Journal

"A must-read for anyone looking for a great adventure novel. I could not put it down." -- Roland Smith, author of Peak

"The Trail brings Toby's epic hike fully to life. It's a journey that's as much in the heart as on the map, and it's not one you want to miss." -- Michael Northrop, New York Times bestselling author of TombQuest: Book of the Dead and Trapped

"In The Trail, Hashimoto has created an honest and tense tale that reminds us that there's more to survival than just living." -- Eliot Schrefer, two-time National Book Award nominee for Endangered and Threatened

2018 Maine Student Book Award Masterlist

2019 Rhode Island Children's Book Award Masterlist

2019-2020 Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award Masterlist

About the Author

Meika Hashimoto is the author of The Trail and Bound for Home. She grew up on a mountain in Maine. She has traveled the world in search of calm forests and beautiful peaks, and found them a'plenty. When she is not hiking and climbing, she is a children's book editor in New York.