Central Kansas Library System

Eleven-year-old Michael Patrick Kelly from New York City is sent to a foster home, a Missouri farm with a sadistic owner, a bullying son, and a number of secrets, one of which may be murder.

Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start.

In 1861, while living with his foster parents at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, twelve-year-old Mike Kelly and his best friend Todd Blakely join the Union army as drummer boys but their dreams of glory end when they experience the full horrors of war at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Missouri.

This is a "study of 'placing out,' a program that began in the 1850s and continued until the late 1920s. More than 200,000 urban children and adults were moved under social programs that put children into rural homes whenevertheir parents were deceased or were unable to care for them." (Choice) Index.