Far From Home is the tale of a little girl named Clarissa who, in 1924, has been sent to live in a children's home in Newfoundland, far from her family, because she suffers from polio. The main problem here is that the author claims her book is based on a true story, and as most of us know, true stories are usually boring beyond belief. Clarissa's circumstances are neither original nor interesting. We are bored with the routine business at the orphanage that fills two hundred pages. I very nearly quit reading at fifty and again at one hundred pages. Only in the final twenty pages, after Clarissa is finally reunited with her family are there a few emotional scenes, showing that no matter how many friends she had at the orphanage, blood is always thicker than water, and it is better to be with her own family even if they are not well to do.