Going Home

Here, a versatile Bunting explores the tough decisions that accompany a family's decision to migrate, showing that even though many wish to immigrate for greater opportunities, there is much left behind and much sacrificed so that new generations can have opportunities.  Families, culture, and a sense of place are valuable things that many leave behind.  Bunting also explores the deeper philosophical question, "What is home?"

In the book, an immigrant family goes back home to Mexico to celebrate Christmas with their wider family.  They originally made the difficult decision to immigrate to the United States, leaving behind loved ones and their sense of place, because they felt that it would give their children greater opportunities.  As the children watch their parents dance in the streets of their hometown, they come to realize that Mexico is part of who they are and who their parents are.  They realize the sacrifices their parents have made to carve out an opportunity at a better life for them.
"They love it here because it's home.  They have left home for us."

We discussed whether home could be in two places.  We also discussed sacrifices that our parents have made for us.

To give another perspective on home, we read Grandfather's Journey alongside this text, discussing similarities and differences between the two depicted ideas of "home."

Each student made a Venn Diagram with two circles that overlap. In one circle, they described the concept of home described in Going Home. In the second circle, they put the concept of home described in Grandfather’s Journey. The circles should be overlapped, with the overlap including attributes of home that are shared in common by both books.