City of Orphans

City of Orphans
By Avi
New York:Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011, Youth Historical Fiction, 350 p.
Maks' parents came from Denmark when he was only a baby, but New York is his home and he works as a newsboy selling papers. Now Bruno and his Plug Ugly Gang are trying to beat Maks up and take his money - and they almost succeed. Then Willa, a homeless girl who lives in a narrow ally, beats off the Plug Uglies with a stick and saves Maks. The least he can do is invite her home to eat. But, when Maks gets home he finds that his older sister Emma, who works at the new Waldorf Hotel, got arrested for stealing! Only she didn't steal anything. How is Maks going to prove her innocent without spending any of the family's small earning on an expensive lawyer? Plus there's still Bruno and the Plug Ugly Gang to worry about; and their not happy about what Willa did...

This novel will capture both teens and adults and whisk them off through the rough streets of New York's lower East End in 1893. It's a clean read with mild street violence, but nothing graphic. One of the most interesting things about this novel is that the text is written so that the entire story is narrated in a thick New Yorker accent. This helps the reader to more fully immerse themselves in the story as they picture themselves sitting around listening to a tough, working class type spinning this story long into the night.