However, Carley doesn’t feel lucky: Her stepfather, Dennis, was recently violent with her physically, and her mother held her by the foot so that she couldn’t escape from him. MacAvoy, the Child Services worker transporting Carley, tells her that she’s lucky to stay with such a kind family. However, just as Carley begins to think about joining the Murphy family for good, she learns that her mother will be well soon and wants her back.Įighth grader Carley Connors travels to the Connecticut home of Mr. She stays with a foster family, the Murphys, where she experiences family life grounded in love, support, and kindness. Because her mother’s injuries are severe, Carley becomes a ward of Child Services.

Written in the first person, from the girl’s point of view, the story emphasizes the many challenges for a child in foster care: to accept an unfamiliar environment, to be vulnerable enough to share feelings, and to trust the intentions of new people.Ĭarley Connors and her mother land in the hospital after Carley’s stepfather physically abuses them. The story spans 80 days in the life of a preteen girl after her removal from an abusive family environment and placement in a foster home that seems too good to be true. The novel explores the foster care system and the way that even its most positive experiences have a nuanced and complex effect on children in foster care. I recommend this book to someone who is into kind of sad books but turns into happy books! There are some parts in this book that younger kids probably should not be reading.This guide references the 2012 edition from Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. I liked how Carly started liking the Murphys but when she first moved in with them she didn’t like them at all. I liked this book because it has a lot of ups and downs. Carly doesn’t like her foster brother, but she does like the other two. She made this friend at her new school and her name is Tony, she didn’t tell Tony that she was in a foster home and they got into a big fight when tony found out. Carly was put into the Murphy's house and had to start fresh. Carly's mom went to a mental hospital and Dennis was put into jail.

Carly is the protagonist in this book, her mom's boyfriend Dennis beat Carly right before she was put into foster care. This story takes place in the Murphy's house. This book is called One for The Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Could you imagine if you were just thrown into foster care, then thrown into a random person's home? That's what happened to Carly.

One for the murphys book