Book Review | A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon
When Frances Kelly finds herself torn away from her mother and her close-knit family, she becomes determined to protect her youngest siblings, even if it means changing her identity.
It is 1860, and the Kelly family, Irish immigrants in New York City, find themselves the object of disdain and oppression. Thirteen-year-old Frances Kelly’s father has passed away, and her mother declares to her six children that she can no longer provide a suitable home for them. They will be sent away to find separate homes in the country on the Orphan Train.
Frances’ younger brother Petey is terrified of being alone, and Frances overhears some caretakers say that brothers are more likely to be sent out together to work on farms. She decides to take matters into her own hands to protect her brother, cuts her hair, dons her brother’s clothes, and assumes the identity of “Frankie.” Desperate to keep her secret, Frances is constantly looking over her shoulder while trying to take on her new responsibilities in her foster family.
A touching story about the close bond between family and selfless love, A Family Apart is a fast-paced chapter book that plunges young readers into a heart-felt historical fiction.
