The Hired Girl

by Laura Amy Schlitz
Lexile:  810
Genre:  Historical Fiction

14 year old Joan is determined.  Ever since her mother died she was been the main housekeeper and cook for her father and brothers.  She is no longer able to go to school and the one thing her mother wanted for her the most was to get an education.  Joan realizes that she is the only one who is going to make change happen in her life.  So in the summer of 1911, she runs away from home and finds work as a hired girl.  Working for the Rosenbach family is going to change her life in ways she never imagined.


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