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)

“Respectful, unflinching, and eye-opening.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Historical fiction that not only depicts a cruel, horrifying reality but also the strength and courage of the people who had to endure it.” —Booklist

In the tradition of Girl, Interrupted, this fiery historical novel follows four young women in the early 20th century whose lives intersect when they are locked up by a world that took the poor, the disabled, the marginalized-and institutionalized them for life.

The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded is not a happy place. The young women who are already there certainly don’t think so. Not Maxine, who is doing everything she can to protect her younger sister Rose in an institution where vicious attendants and bullying older girls treat them as the morons, imbeciles, and idiots the doctors have deemed them to be. Not Alice, either, who was left there when her brother couldn’t bring himself to support a sister with a club foot. And not London, who has just been dragged there from the best foster situation she’s ever had, thanks to one unexpected, life-altering moment. Each girl is determined to change her fate, no matter what it takes.