Nobody's Daughter [Paperback]

Susan Beth Pfeffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996 | Age Level: 9 and up

Believing her life is over when the last member of her family dies and she is sent to an orphanage, eleven-year-old Emily finds hope in the town librarian, who shows her that courage and honesty matter as much as blood ties. Reprint. AB. NYT. PW. K. VY.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Orphaned at an early age and grudgingly taken in by a great-aunt, 11-year-old Emily is packed off to the Austen Home for Orphaned Girls after her great-aunt dies without providing for her. The institution is a benign one, she is told, compared with the rough-and-tumble city asylums, snobbishly described as holding pens for "ruffians, immigrants [and] the poorest of the poor." Once at the Austen Home, Emily steels herself to endure such degradations as having her braids cut off ("So many girls come to us with head lice....") and the torments of a gang of schoolmates, all daughters of the New England mill town's most prominent citizens. But Emily also forges firm friendships with two fellow orphans and with the spunky, free-thinking local librarian, who even drives a newfangled automobile. A cruel sequence of events soon shatters Emily's few hopes, showing her-and the reader-the extent of the upstanding citzenry's prejudice against the disenfranchised. Though some characters are so diabolically nasty they defy belief, others, such as the Austen Home's easily cowed director, are a convincing mix of good intentions and ordinary frailty. The happy, ultimately hopeful ending does not diminish the impact of Pfeffer's compassionate exploration of what happens to those who fall between the cracks. A wrenching story. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8?Orphaned at an early age, Emily lived with and cared for her elderly great-aunt, who left the almost 12-year-old girl penniless when she died. Arriving at the Austen Home for Orphaned Girls, Emily is greeted by Miss Browne, the director, with a warning to squelch unrealistic fantasies, to accept her role in life, and to always turn the other cheek. Emily, however, has just learned that she has a young sibling (their mother died in childbirth) and she dreams of being adopted by the wonderful family she imagines her sister to have. And turning the other cheek becomes more and more difficult as she and her friends are cruelly harassed by a group of spiteful classmates. When one of the orphaned girls is accidentally killed in one of these episodes, everyone refuses to believe Emily's truthful version of events. She finds the courage of her convictions; tries to change the path she's been forced to tread; and tracks down her sister, only to receive yet another crushing blow. Although one calamity after another afflicts the heroine, some sunshine enters her life when she gains the support of the town librarian and her mother. While the characters are depicted strictly in black or white, the plot is predictable, the dialogue is stilted, and the ambience of the early years of this century rarely emerges, there's a big audience out there for sagas about downtrodden orphans. This plot has just enough adversities to please those readers.?Susan F. Marcus, Pollard Middle School, Needham, MA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440411602
• ISBN-13: 978-0440411604
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,971,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

SUSAN BETH PFEFFER is the author of many books for teens, including Life As We Knew It and the bestselling novel The Year Without Michael. She lives in Middletown, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nobody's Duaghter, review written by a reader who loved it., May 8, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Nobody's Daughter (Paperback)

This book has a good lesson to it and it may not end on a happy note but that is okay.i feel you have to read the second book to realise the impact of how good of a book this is. so read both book before makeing a jugment about this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars An awsome book!, December 4, 2011

By 

Lucky10279 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nobody's Daughter (Hardcover)

This is the best book ever! Please read it! I wish it was longer. I give it 5 stars! Read it!

3.0 out of 5 stars Orphaned and alone, May 7, 2008

By 

Joanna Mechlinski (CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nobody's Daughter (Paperback)

After the recent death of her great-aunt, 11-year-old Emily Lathrop Hasbrouck discovers what it means to be truly alone. Her parents died when she was very young, and now she's being sent to the Austen Home for Orphaned Girls...after which, Emily is told, she can become a servant or a mill worker.

In the meantime, Emily faces a harsh orphanage environment, along with daily cruelty from her schoolmates, the daughters of the town's wealthiest Austen Home supporters. Luckily, she's befriended two fellow orphans, as well as the independent-minded town librarian, Miss Alice.

They encourage Emily to look for her long-lost baby sister, put up for adoption upon her birth and their mother's death. While Emily hasn't much to go on, not even her sister's name or location, she's determined not only to find her, but become part of her sister's new family.

But tragedy strikes, and Emily finds herself even lonelier and more helpless than before. Who will help her make a new life?

Pfeffer's portrayal of orphan life is pretty bleak -- too much so, some might say. Despite this being a children's book, Emily's story does not end neatly, with a happily-ever-after. Yet despite that, readers can feel a great deal of hope, that Emily will persevere and triumph no matter what happens to her.