London, 14, an orphaned Italian immigrant, is violently picked up by Boston police and taken to Fernald, a state-run "school" warehousing social outcasts, most of them labeled "morons" or "imbeciles" if they don't have visible disabilities. Pregnant, London realizes the family of the boy who is the father reported her to police. At Fernald, she is placed in a dorm with African American Alice, 14, who has a club foot, and white sisters Maxine, 14, and Rose, 13. Rose is "mongoloid," while the others, including London, are classified as "morons." London, the only one among them who hasn't been there since childhood, is intent on escaping. But as slowly building trust among the four grows into friendship, she realizes she can't leave the others behind. Fernald was a real, horrifying place, and the early-20 ^th -century attitudes regarding physical and intellectual disabilities and those who are poor are as equally true and disturbing as the history of Fernald itself. The four young women in this novel are light to counter this darkness: Their distinct and well-developed personalities, the connections among them, and the details of their lives solidly ground this riveting story. Their collective perspective on a budding lesbian romance and on race, and the open but relief-filled ending, may be hopeful for the time but don't deter from either the plot or this thoroughly researched account of how people with disabilities-whether actual, or conveniently labeled for social control purposes-were perceived and treated. (Ages 11-14)