Take Me With You

Carolyn Marsden's Take Me With You is such a great read. It is written for the Junior High age reader - a touching story of two girls that have lived in an orphanage in Italy for as long as they can remember. Their stories and reasons why they are there are completely different, but they become fast friends. When Susanna's dad comes to claim her, that lives Pina dealing with her feelings of being left behind. It is really a sad story - of how the girls were treated while in orphanage care and even the parents' reasons for abandoning their daughters. But through it all, the girls come to learn about identity and what it really means to have a home. Marsden shines in this novel - you come to feel for these girls and the tough lives they have to live. The story is actually based on a friend of Marsden's that grew up in a home for unwanted girls in Naples - it is one that will stick with readers for some time!