“Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge--until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents--but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.”

This book was so enchanting. Heartbreaking and beautiful. I really found myself struggling to put this book down once I got into it! I didn’t know anything about this story and am so appalled that this was happening during the Depression. Those poor kids.

SPOILER: The only issue I had was that even after I finished the “reveal” part of the book, I still struggled to understand who out of the Foss family Judy Stafford actually was. I even re-read the ending a few times and still it wasn’t explicitly clear to me. I ended up Googling it and saw other people with the same question, so I guess I wasn’t the only one. I won’t say who she is here, but if anyone else is confused, I’ll share in a PM!