I saw the musical “Newsies” within the past month. As stories do, this powerful performance brought the late 1800’s to life for me—through the eyes of the young (mostly) boys who worked hawking newspapers in New York City.
Click to find it on Amazon
As fortune would have it, when I visited my library on returning home, I happened to pick up the perfect “Newsies” sequel: The City of Orphans, by Avi.
The summary:
In 1893 New York, thirteen-year-old Maks, a newsboy, teams up with Willa, a homeless girl, to clear his older sister from the charges that she stole from the brand new Waldorf Hotel, where she works. Includes historical notes.
Avi is a prolific and popular children’s author, who I had never, until this week, read. He has written a variety of genres—I would call this book a historical mystery. (A fictional mystery set in a particular historical moment in time.)
Here’s a unique aspect:
Avi uses the main character’s vernacular to narrate the entire book—so proper English is out the window. That’s an uncommon approach, especially in children’s literature where part of the goal is for readers to become more literate.
Value of Reading
With this book I remembered clearly that one of the values of reading historical fiction is its capacity to bring history to memorable life.
Trot on down to you library and put City of Orphans on hold—and a few other books by Avi while you are at it!