About a Home Child

Inspired by real stories of Canada’s home children, About a Home Child follows a core group of poor and orphaned children at Dr. Barnardo’s Home in East London, who were give free shelter and an education by their benefactor, then shipped across the pond and placed in employment across rural Canada. Extra, Extra! Dr. Thomas Barnardo has opened a home on Copperfield Road to provide free shelter, meals, and education for the poor and orphaned children of London. Vowing to never turn away a child in need, Dr. Barnardo’s Home trains them in carpentry, metalwork, and shoemaking, shaping them into hardworking, independent citizens. But as demand grows and funding dwindles, Dr. Barnardo looks toward a different future for his charges. Under the Child Migration Plan, the children of Dr. Barnardo’s Home, along with those from other homes and orphan refugees of the Armenian Genocide, are dispersed throughout rural Canada and placed in the employ of family farms. Some thrive in their new lives. Some simply survive. Some, however, do not. In this gripping novel that draws on the real history of the home children who migrated to Canada between 1869 to 1932, Caroline Fernandez delivers a tale of friendship, survival, and resilience.

Pages: 100, Paperback, Dcb Young Readers