Literature / Where I'd Like To Be

Where I'd Like To Be is a 2004 children's novel by Frances O'Roark Dowell.

A ghost saved twelve-year-old Maddie's life when she was an infant, her Granny Lane claims, so Maddie must always remember that she is special. But it's hard to feel special when you've spent your life shuffled from one foster home to another. And now that she's at the East Tennessee Children's Home, Maddie feels even less special.

She longs for a place to call home. She even has a "book of houses" in which she glues pictures of places she'd like to live. Then one day, a new girl, Murphy, shows up at the Home armed with tales about exotic travels, being able to fly, and boys who recite poetry to wild horses. When Murphy offers Maddie something she has never had before, Maddie begins to wonder if she has finally found someone who feels like home.

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Tropes

• Conveniently an Orphan: Subverted. Upon arriving at the Home, Murphy calls them "a bunch of orphans" and Maddie tells her no, that's not really the case.
  Murphy: I can't believe I ended up here, stuck in with a bunch of orphans.
  Maddie: I don't think very many people here are orphans. Most people have at least one parent somewhere.
• Establishing Character Moment: When Murphy first comes to the Home, the first words out of her mouth are "Murphy's not my real name. I don't tell anyone my real name." Much later, Maddie reflects back on this, realizing that—in a way—she was warning them from the very beginning that she was lying. To the reader it's rather more blatant as—as the narrator—Maddie ends the first chapter saying:
  Turns out, she was more the type to tell a bold-faced lie. Only I didn't know it then. I believed everything she told me.
• Foster Kid: Maddie, Murphy, Donita, and Ricky Ray are all in the foster care system.
• Honorary Uncle: Donita's Uncle Wendell
  Maddie: I didn't even know you had an uncle here.
  Donita: He's not really my uncle. But black folks in this town are few and far between, in case you haven't noticed. I think he just wants me to feel like I've got some of my own kind around if need be.
• Meaningful Rename: Murphy names herself Murphy when she first comes to the Home.
• Parental Abandonment: Maddie's mother, who left when she was a baby.
• Tagalong Kid: Ricky Ray, who's 6 and who Maddie takes under her wing.