I'm feeling a bit nostalgic lately so I've been rereading books from my childhood. I think I read this book for the first time in 6th grade. “This is as close to a perfect book as you’ll buy this year.” – VOYA Will Frances be able to save her siblings? And what about her mom-was splitting up their family really her greatest act of love? Ride the rails with Frances and her siblings to find out! She’s going to protect her brothers and sisters, even if it means dressing up like a boy and putting herself in danger. Thirteen-year-old Frances won’t stand for it. It was bad enough that they had to say goodbye to their mother, but now they’re forced to part ways with their fellow siblings as well. Joseph, Missouri, where their problems only grow worse. The Kellys board an “orphan train” and are taken to St. It’s 1856, and their widowed mother has sent them west from New York City because she’s convinced that she can’t give them the life they deserve. This is the fate that befalls the Kelly children.

Imagine your mother is the one who lets it happen. Through Barbara Caruso’s lively narration, A Family Apart quickly draws listeners into Mary Frances’ world.FOR LOVERS OF HISTORICAL ADVENTURE, A FAMILY APART IS THE MIDDLE-GRADE ANSWER TO CHRISTINA BAKER KLINE'S NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING ORPHAN TRAIN. The author of more than a hundred books for children, she was inspired to write The Orphan Train Adventures by the true stories of its children. She has also received two Golden Spur Awards.

Joan Lowery Nixon is a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Best Juvenile Mystery Award. Their sacrifices will finally help her understand her mother’s difficult decision. How could a mother send her children away? At her new home in Missouri, however, Mary Frances is surprised to discover that the kind family provides a refuge on the Underground Railroad. Thirteen-year-old Mary Frances is confused and angry. They will be sent west on an “orphan train” to families eager for help on their farms. Kelly learns of the Children’s Aid Society, she sees a way to provide for her children. For a widow with six children, it is impossible. In 1860, life in New York City’s slums is hard and dangerous.

A Place to Belong by Joan Lowery Nixon