Sadie can't understand why everyone seems to dislike Arthur. It's 1914, and Arthur, 13, has been sent over from England as a Home Child to become the hired help on her family's farm. He seems like a nice boy, but Sadie's father works him to the bone, piling on chore after chore. The children at school tease him because of his accent and his reading talent. But it's Sadie's mother who saves the most spite for Arthur, calling him "boy" and sending him to eat his meals in the corner by himself. Even though she knows her mother would be angry, Sadie forms a clandestine friendship with Arthur. But then Arthur is accused of stealing, and Sadie discovers a family secret that turns her well-ordered world upside-down. Now a near-tragic fire, carelessly started by Sadie, is forcing the entire family to look at Arthur in a whole new way.
A bestseller and CLA Notable Book of the Year in 1997, Home Child is sure to attract a new generation of readers who have enjoyed Flying Geese and Irish Chain. Highlighting a little-known period in our history, when 100,000 Home Children were sent to Canada from Britain, Home Child sensitively and movingly portrays a boy's loss, a girl's coming of age, and a family's attempt to deal with prejudice and shame.