by Michaela MacColl. For ages 10-14. This historical fiction title seems to be thoroughly researched and reveals events in New York City and Arizona around the turn of the century. 12 year-old Rory and her little sister, Violet, are orphans at the Catholic Foundling Hospital in New York City and cared for by devout nuns. When Rory discovers that the nuns have placed her little sister with a family in Arizona who wants to adopt her, she is horrified and grief-stricken. In her plan to prevent their separation, hot-headed Rory designs a plan to sneak aboard the ‘orphan train’ taking her sister and 50 or more other orphans from Foundling to be adopted by Catholic families. Once out in Arizona more trouble awaits her when she and the nuns discover that Mexican families have been assigned to adopt the white babies. Based on real-life events, the action seems over-inflated for the times and yet the author’s note asserts that these events occurred when white families became violent and threatening because they wanted the white babies for themselves. The action was suspenseful and realistic. two more books in the series are slated to follow.
