Girl Alone

Sixteen-year-old Sally Ford has spent her entire life within the walls of a state orphanage. She scrubs floors with the other girls, but it's her role as caretaker that defines her, entertaining the youngest through play-acting, soothing their fears, being the one they turn to. Then comes an offer: a farmer named Mr. Carson wants Sally to come work for him for the summer. It's an escape, or at least it should be. But leaving means abandoning the children who need her, stepping into a world where she must learn to be something other than what the orphanage made her. Anne Austin writes with quiet, devastating clarity about the particular loneliness of a girl who has never been someone's daughter. This is a story about the courage it takes to become a person when you've only ever been a function. It lingers.