Hellie Jondoe (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780896726635)

A heart of steel can't be stolen--unless the thief is Hellie Jondoe. It's 1918. A war of nations is ending and a worldwide flu epidemic just heating up, but to thirteen-year-old Hellie, the only battle that counts is her own survival. An orphan by four, a beggar by six, Hellie--as apprentice pickpocket to her brother Harry--is now "the best dang cannon of moveable property between Satan's Circus and Hell's Kitchen." She's as tough as she is resourceful . . . on her own turf. But after a gang shootout coerces Hellie to head west on an orphan train, her plans to jump track are quickly derailed. Landing in the Hidden Hills, a ranch outside Pendleton, Oregon, Hellie meets her match in the domineering Scholastica Gorence, an elderly ranch woman to whom she is indentured for three years. To make matters worse, Hellie becomes the unwilling caretaker of Lizzie, a nearly blind girl, and Joey, a crippled toddler. The last thing Hellie wants is a family, but she is strapped with one now. There's a time to cut and run, a time to stay and fight. Choosing which is right takes savvy, guts, and heart . . . all compelling Hellie to dig down deep.

Author: Randall Platt
ISBN-10: 0896726630
ISBN-13: 9780896726635
Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/01/2009
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.70d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.4
Point Value: 9
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 134489 / Hellie Jondoe

Award: IndieFab awards - Bronze Medal Winner
Award: WILLA Literary Award - Winner
Award: Jefferson Cup - Honor Book
Award: Moonbeam Children's Book Award - Gold Medal Winner

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 10/15/2009
Publishers Weekly 11/09/2009 pg. 48