An old man visits a closed and decaying building which he remembers entering some sixty years earlier as a small, frightened nine-year-old. He then mines those distantmemories for this stark recounting of growing up in a large, military orphanage. He tells of newkie lessons perhaps too well-learned and a kiddie dormitory perhaps too well-ordered; of violent daytime battles and innocent nighttime rendezvous; of a happy-go-lucky garbage man and a not so lucky marksman; of unconsummated first love and an unexpected last message. These memories, and many more, are flanked by two sad goodbyes, one wistful and one anguished, but each demarcating a decisive fork in life's road. Finally, in a dramatic epilogue, former classmates return for the annual orphan's reunion and gather in an off-campus bar to revel and reminisce.
A funny and tender picture book about waiting for a new brother or sister to arrive. There's a house inside my mummy, Where my little brother grows, Or maybe it's my little sister No one really knows. Waiting for a new brother or sister to arrive can be a confusing and worrying time for young children. Sharing this simple rhyming story together is the perfect way to reassure your little one and involve them in all the excitement. Told with humour and warmth by Giles Andreae, the author of much-loved family favourite Giraffes Can't Dance. 'A great book for sharing with your first born while your second is still in the 'tummy house'' - The Times A note from the author: 'When my wife became pregnant for the second time, I was talking to Flinn, our 2-year old son, about what was going to take place and how exciting it would be for him to have a brother or sister. I started to think about it as though I were a young child myself ... 'There's a house inside my mummy' was a phrase that just popped into my head, and from then on the book was a joy to write.'
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal—some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents—hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families. Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children’s Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results. Advance praise for Before and After “In Before and After, authors Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate tackle the true stories behind Wingate’s blockbuster Before We Were Yours, of the orphans who survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. With a journalist’s keen eye and a novelist’s elegant prose, Christie and Wingate weave together the stories that inspired Before We Were Yours with the lives that were changed as a result of reading the novel. Readers will be educated, enlightened, and enraptured by this important and flawlessly executed book.”—Pam Jenoff, author of The Orphan’s Tale and The Lost Girls of Paris
Jails, hospitals, and strip joints; the celebrations of straight-A report cards, graduations, and Congressional honors - as the children demonstrate their humor, hope, and resilience in trying to overcome their society's failure.
This young readers’ edition of Christina Baker Kline’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel Orphan Train follows a twelve-year-old foster girl who forms an unlikely bond with a ninety-one-year-old woman. Adapted and condensed for a young audience, Orphan Train Girl includes an author’s note and archival photos from the orphan train era. This book is especially perfect for mother/daughter reading groups. Molly Ayer has been in foster care since she was eight years old. Most of the time, Molly knows it’s her attitude that’s the problem, but after being shipped from one family to another, she’s had her fair share of adults treating her like an inconvenience. So when Molly’s forced to help an a wealthy elderly woman clean out her attic for community service, Molly is wary. But from the moment they meet, Molly realizes that Vivian isn’t like any of the adults she’s encountered before. Vivian asks Molly questions about her life and actually listens to the answers. Soon Molly sees they have more in common than she thought. Vivian was once an orphan, too—an Irish immigrant to New York City who was put on a so-called "orphan train" to the Midwest with hundreds of other children—and she can understand, better than anyone else, the emotional binds that have been making Molly’s life so hard. Together, they not only clear boxes of past mementos from Vivian’s attic, but forge a path of friendship, forgiveness, and new beginnings.
History Stories for Children exposes children to a wide variety of wholesome stories based upon famous historical events and personalities from the Bible, America and around the world. Students sharpen their reading skills while they learn about King David, Alexander the Great, George Washington and many others. The stories within this volume can be used to enhance a wide variety of unit or topical studies. Grade 3.
Rapid urbanization in low- and middle income countries (LMICs) has triggered a childcare crisis. As families move to the city, they leave behind extended family and traditional support networks; parents and guardians - particularly mothers - are working long hours outside the home often in informal and unstable jobs. In response to the increasing demand a range of informal, private and NGO providers have sprung up to provide day, and sometimes night, care. Governments are struggling to respond, and the care for children in the early years frequently falls between ministries. The combination of these factors in LMIC cities has left children from low-income families with substandard childcare which poses a threat to their immediate and long-term health and development.
This book is an anthology of short stories from various genres. Included titles are 'A Modern Hero' by Marion Harland; 'Benny's Wigwam' by Mary Catherine Lee; 'The Button Boy' by A. M. Griffin; and 'His Three Trials' by Kate Gannett Wells.
