Despite flaws, the alarmingly hostile characterization of most adults, an overly long ending, [Homecoming] is a glowing book. Its disturbing undercurrent of hostility and cynicism is counter-balanced by the [children's] obvious love and loyalty to one another, and by the capability, cleverness and determination that characterize all the survival episodes on the road and the homemaking scenes in Maryland.

The bleak fundamentals of the children's situation may be strong stuff for many young readers, but for those who have the resilience to take it, the accomplishments of this feisty band of complex and, in contrast to the adults, sympathetically conceived kids makes for an enthralling journey to a gratifying end.

Kathleen Leverich, in a review of "Homecoming," in The New York Times Book Review, May 10, 1981, p. 38.