The orphan band of Springdale
Nesbet, Anne
Genre:
It's 1941
and tensions are rising in the United States as the Second World War rages in Europe. Eleven-year-old Gusta's life
like the world around her
is about to change. Her father
a foreign-born labor organizer
has had to flee the country
and Gusta has been sent to live in an orphanage run by her grandmother. Nearsighted
snaggletoothed Gusta arrives in Springdale
Maine
lugging her one precious possession: a beloved old French horn
her sole memento of her father. But in a family that's long on troubles and short on money
how can a girl hang on to something so valuable and yet so useless when Gusta's mill-worker uncle needs surgery to fix his mangled hand
with no union to help him pay? Inspired by her mother's fanciful stories
Gusta secretly hopes to find the coin-like "Wish" that her sea-captain grandfather supposedly left hidden somewhere. Meanwhile
even as Gusta gets to know the rambunctious orphans at the home
she feels like an outsider at her new school -- and finds herself facing patriotism turned to prejudice
alien registration drives
and a family secret likely to turn the small town upside down.
Target Readership: