katiesmom

1. Bibliography

LaFaye, A. 2004. Worth. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-689-85730-6

2. Plot summary

Hurrying to bring in the last of the hay before a rainstorm, Nebraska farm boy Nathaniel Peale’s leg is crushed beneath the wheels of the hay wagon when crashing thunder spooks the horses. It is the late 1800s, money is tight, and Nathaniel’s Pa needs help working the farm. Help Nathaniel can no longer give. When Pa brings home an orphan, sent west on the Orphan Train, Nathaniel is both happy and uncomfortable when Ma tells him the boy is nothing more than a helping hand on the farm. The orphan, a boy from New York named John Worth, sleeps outside under a lean-to and is fed whatever scraps are leftover when everyone has eaten. But, when ranchers begin cutting fences and killing sheep to try and drive the farmers away, Nathaniel realizes he and John Worth must work together or they would all be done for.

3. Critical analysis

Seen through the eyes of young protagonist Nathaniel Peale and written in the voice of plain, hard-working prairie dwellers, Worth tells the story of farm life on the plains of Nebraska in the late nineteenth century is dangerous and hard. The dawn to dusk work on a turn of the century farm made large families necessary. Unable to carry the work load alone after Nathaniel is injured in a farming accident that leaves his “left thigh…shriveled up…as thin as (his) right shin (with) a big purple scar where the bone broke through the skin. And the whole leg burning like wildfire (and) shaking like a leaf in the wind” (LaFaye, 21) Pa adopts an orphan from the Orphan Train. LaFaye avoids going into detail about the Orphan Train, but including a character who has come west as an Orphan Train Rider from New York adds historical accuracy to Worth. When Ma is less than welcoming the writer recreates the spirit of the times in which children were often used as near slave labor to keep households, farms, and ranches running. Patterns of daily living are recreated in the unending dawn to dusk work and Nathaniel’s attitude toward school. When he reflects, “Come winter, when the work around the farm grows as thin as bare trees, Pa might even let (John Worth) go to school with me” (LaFaye, 144) we see that working to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table takes precedence over education in nineteenth century Nebraska. And while John Worth does eventually come to be treated like a member of Nathaniel’s family, unlike some Orphan Train children who were treated abominably, LaFaye never sugar-coats the hardships of life; from the death of John Worth’s entire family in a New York tenement fire to the blinding anger Nathaniel’s Ma feels toward the caregiver whose neglect allowed her 18 month old daughter to choke to death the author brings to life nineteen century farm life. Ten to fourteen year olds will enjoy and learn from this story that is ultimately about what a human being is worth.

4. Review excerpts

School Library Journal: “Grade 5-8–As 11-year-old Nathaniel rushes to bring in hay ahead of an approaching thunderstorm, his leg is crushed beneath a wagon when the team of horses, spooked by lightning, lurches out of control. His father brings one more conflict to their late-19th-century Nebraska homestead in the person of John Worth, a boy taken off the orphan train to help take up the slack. The family is already tense about previous financial failures and the loss of a daughter. Now fence cutters exacerbate the land-use conflict between ranchers and farmers by freeing cattle to trample the crops on which the farmers’ survival depends. The author convincingly conveys the boys’ gradual realization of the value of one another’s friendship. Other themes include the importance of reading and education, meeting challenges head on, relying on and playing a responsible role in your community, and recovering from loss. A special strength of the book is the characterization of Nathaniel’s mom, whose fierce anger is emotionally balanced by her dedication to her family’s well-being. Although she works as a tinker, she lets her husband take credit in deference to the mores of the time. A satisfying piece of historical fiction.”

5. Connections

Excellent as a read along when studying late 19^th century American history especially the controversy of working conditions for children and the idea and results of the Orphan Trains.

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